When President Kennedy was assassinated, I was nine years old.  But even I could see that Lee H. Oswald was rubbed out, two days later, to keep him quiet.  It is no longer reasonable to believe that I will live long enough to hear the whole truth, or even the majority of the truth, about the Kennedy assassination.  The facts are just too embarrassing to the federal government, even though all the actors have died already.  The government agencies that were apparently involved are still around, and still in control of the information.

Nor do I expect that the whole truth will ever be made public regarding the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, the crash of TWA 800, the crash of American 587, the implosion of World Trade Center Building 7, the apparent murders of Vince Foster, and Seth Rich, and possibly Andrew Breitbart, the suspicious deaths of all these people, the long series of suspicious fires that seemed to affect only the U.S., the stolen presidential election in 2020, or the names of the people who currently administer the Executive Branch of the government, since it obviously is not Joe Biden.

(Or the origins of Covid-19, or Obama's birth certificate, or Benghazi, or Jeffrey Epstein, or the contents of Hunter Biden's laptop.)

The attempted assassination of Donald Trump is very obviously more than a mere security lapse.  It goes beyond incompetence, bad timing, and coincidences.  To even the most casual observer, it looks like dozens of people who should have acted to protect Mr. Trump just stepped aside for a while and let the shooter do as he pleased.  Not necessarily those closest to Mr. Trump at that moment — mainly the people around the perimeter, and the "higher-ups."  Only after the would-be assassin fired a few shots, was he "neutralized."  Anyone with two eyes could see this scruffy young man was obviously not a cop.  But several of the actual cops took a good look at him and shrugged.  The shooter's internet browsing history turned out to be surprisingly thin.  His cell phone was surprisingly hard to crack open, according to the FBI.  He sounds very much like a patsy and a scapegoat.

Who would benefit most from the sudden death of Donald Trump, right before the 2024 election?  The Democrats, obviously, but also the Deep State, also known as the Swamp.  Again, how many of us will live long enough to hear the whole story?  The Congress will investigate and hold a series of hearings.  This is the same Congress that refuses to implement term limits on itself, because the wealth and power is too delicious.  This is the same Congress that can't get rid of Daylight Saving Time, even though it annoys everyone, and can't terminate the federal funding of PBS, which could easily stand on its own.  Even the simplest tasks are too tough.  Don't hold your breath waiting for the Republicans to expose their buddies "across the aisle."

(It is easy to doubt the government's official explanation of an event when the event is irreproducible.  For example, the Kennedy assassination.  CBS News did a study in 1975 to see if an expert marksman could fire three shots from a Mannlicher-Carcano rifle in under 11 seconds.  Even the best military marksmen couldn't do it, and still leave time to actually aim the rifle before firing it.  [The "magic bullet" is a separate story that is also not believable.]  Dealey Plaza is the number one tourist attraction in Dallas because nobody believes the official story.  There are other cases:  The truck bomb that allegedly brought down half of the federal building in Oklahoma City was re-constructed, and was shown to be incapable of doing that much damage.  Something hit the Pentagon on 9/11/2001, but it left a hole too small for an airliner to go through; and there should have been seats and luggage and bodies everywhere, and a big empennage sticking out of the building, but there weren't.  The spontaneously exploding fuel tank on TWA 800 could not be replicated — simply because that's not what happened.  [If it can't happen, it didn't.]  And of course one of the biggest packs of lies ever put forth by the government was about Covid-19:  Masks, hydroxychloroquine, Ivermectin, social distancing, plexiglas panels, two weeks to flatten the curve, ventilators, dancing "overworked" nurses, zero cases of the flu, etc.  You don't have to provide your own air-tight explanation of a recent event to know beyond any reasonable doubt that the government's explanation does not add up. )

Related topics:
Violence and hate speech come from the political left
Incompetent local cops
Incompetence at the state and federal level
The Deep State vs Donald Trump
Uncategorized recent news about the FBI
The alleged plot to kidnap Governor Gretchen Whitmer
The politicized FBI in general
Media bias and dishonesty regarding Donald Trump
Media dishonesty in general
Media bias in favor of Joe Biden

Overview and recap articles:

FBI and the US Secret Service Plot Against Trump.  A recent report shows that the assassination attempts on President Donald Trump were facilitated by unacceptable misconduct and unprofessional behavior by employees of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the United States Secret Service (USSS) stemming from deep-seated politicization within these agencies.  The increasing politicization of the U.S. government and its institutions has become a pressing concern in many media.  Conservative pundits have been sounding the alarm about that issue since at least 2016, when the FBI plot against Donald Trump was initially dismissed as a conspiracy theory.  Now, after it became clear that the Democrat party has weaponized the Department of Justice to destroy Trump's presidential campaign, it turned out the "conspirators" were telling nothing but truth.

The opposite of truth is not just lies, it is chaos.  [Scroll down]  They lie as well about whose rhetoric has generated two assassination attempts.  Curiously, we do not yet know nearly as much as we should about the two shooters, but every sentient person on the planet knows that the left's language over the last nine years has been purposefully murderous; still is.  Still, just as they insist the 2020 election was not rigged, the wholly disingenuous George Stephanopoulos still tries to make Trump supporters responsible for the attempts on his life.  You cannot call the man "Hitler," call for his "elimination," his "extermination," etc. and not expect a few mentally ill persons to react as if ordered to kill.  These people are shameless.

Secret Service's 'Rampant' Problems Can't Be Solved By Throwing Money At It, Former Agents Say.  The decision to change venues for a Donald Trump rally on Saturday shows that a major cash infusion for the Secret Service (USSS) will not solve the deeper problems and limitations the agency must address, former agents told the Daily Caller News Foundation.  The Trump campaign was forced to move an outdoor event for thousands of people into the comparatively smaller Prairie du Chien Area Arts Center in Wisconsin Saturday after USSS said it did not have enough resources to ensure the former president's safety.  While long-term problems stemming from a wave of retirements, recruiting struggles and internal nepotism will need to be addressed after the election, former agents said the USSS needs to shift its priorities in the short-term to ensure it can keep Trump safe without compromising his outreach to voters.

Democrats Limiting Trump's Secret Service? 45 Claims They're 'Interfering' with His Campaign and His Security.  Dirty Democratic tricks are forcing his campaign to downsize events, former President Donald Trump claimed Monday [9/30/2024].  Trump's allegations come in the aftermath of last week's allegations from Republican Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri that the Secret Service's lack of cooperation with the Trump campaign was limiting what Trump could do in the battleground state of Wisconsin.  "The Democrats are interfering with my Campaign by not giving us the proper number of people within Secret Service that are necessary for Security," Trump posted Monday on Truth Social.  "They're using them for themselves, even though they don't need them — they draw "flies" — because they have no crowds, and for people like the President of Iran, who is doing everything possible to kill me," Trump, who has survived two assassination attempts this campaign season, wrote.

It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad Fake Presidential Race.  Alex Jones and others are reporting that some attendees who sat behind the stage at a recent Trump rally in Arizona reported experiencing eye pain.  Were they collateral damage from a chemical attack directed at Trump?  Or were they peddling "wild conspiracy theories," as one of the few news outlets to report the story called it?  A senior Trump campaign advisor released a public statement saying they were "collecting information" about the incident.  Can this be real?  As real as the other two acknowledged attempts, doubted by millions?  Is Trump now just going to be the continuous, designated victim of attempted assassination, yet always surviving?

The ongoing assassination attempts against Donald Trump.  Last weekend, Donald Trump made his triumphant return to Butler, Pennsylvania for a rally at the very location where a would-be assassin's bullet grazed his right ear last July 13.  In September, the former president was the target of another assassination attempt, this time at his Florida golf course.  So the big question is, are there any other would-be assassins out there, gunning for Donald Trump?  The answer is yes.  Besides the Iranians, there is no shortage of homegrown losers who, prodded by hate rhetoric, are looking for an opportunity.

Attempt #3
October 12, 2024.

Vem Miller, aka Vem Venovkian, aka Vem Steinberg, aka Vsem Venovkian.  Stay away from the sketchy story around "Vem Miller" (DOB 10-26-74), and everything that surrounds the story of the possible 3rd assassination attempt.  Everything about this story is sketchy in the extreme, including his defenses.  Multiple, at least 3, passports.  Multiple, at least 3, ids.  Fake tags on vehicle.  Unregistered vehicle.  Firearms (shotgun and handgun). Claimed fake credentials for Trump rally.  A personal and familial connection to USA, Armenia, Great Britian (UK) and Canada.  Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco outlines the commonsense approach to viewing people as "sketchy." [...] There are weird and sketchy people in the world, and law enforcement engage with weird and sketchy people every day.  When a federal law enforcement agency like the FBI engages with weird and sketchy people, generally the weird and sketchy people become confidential human sources.  Stay away from weird and sketchy people.

An arrest outside Coachella rally over suspected third assassination attempt.  A friend and business partner of the alleged third would-be Trump assassin Vem Miller has spoken out — telling DailyMail.com he is a full-blown Trump supporter and slamming police for 'not understanding he's one of us'.  Right-wing documentarian Mindy Robinson said Miller has been a MAGA activist for years, had no intention of killing Trump, and said she has been to several pro-Trump events with Miller, whose colorful background is revealed in court filings obtained by DailyMail.com.  In an exclusive interview with DailyMail.com, Robinson described Miller as a journalist and documentarian.

Trump rally attendee Vem Miller arrested at Coachella with two firearms in his car.  Vem Miller is a registered Republican who tried to present fake VIP credentials at a Trump rally on Saturday and then found himself arrested on illegal firearms charges.  The 49-year-old Las Vegas resident describes himself on LinkedIn as an 'investigative journalist' and is the cofounder of what appears to be a fringe, far-right website that vows to 'rage against the mainstream media.'  On Saturday, Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco claimed Miller was 'probably' seeking to assassinate former President Donald Trump.  But a source close to Trump campaign downplayed the threat and told DailyMaill.com that there was no assassination attempt.

Trump in new assassination scare as gunman arrested outside Coachella rally.  An armed man was arrested outside Donald Trump's campaign rally in Coachella, California, sparking fears of another possible attempt on his life with just three weeks to the election.  Vem Miller, 49, was taken into custody after he was stopped at a checkpoint near the former president's rally in Coachella, California on Saturday just before 5 p.m. local time.  He allegedly presented fake VIP credentials and was found to be illegally in possession of a shotgun, a loaded handgun and a high-capacity magazine in his vehicle.

Third Trump Assassination Attempt Thwarted.  Authorities thwarted a possible third assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump on Saturday when local law enforcement apprehended a man in possession of firearms and counterfeit entry passes outside his rally in Coachella Valley, California.  The suspect was detained roughly a mile from the rally site, where police discovered he had a fraudulent entry pass, a loaded shotgun, a handgun, and a high-capacity magazine.  "We probably stopped another assassination attempt," Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco told the New York Post.

Armed man Vem Miller arrested outside Trump's Coachella rally.  Local cops arrested an armed man outside a Donald Trump rally in California on Saturday, and the local sheriff has doubled down on claims that a third assassination attempt was prevented — even though he let the suspect walk after posting a meager bail for gun charges.  "I truly do believe we prevented another assassination attempt," Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco told reporters Sunday [10/13/2024], a day after suspect Vem Miller was arrested at a checkpoint outside Trump's rally in Coachella Valley.  Miller, 49, was caught at a police checkpoint allegedly trying to enter the rally with a phony press pass.  When cops noticed his car was unregistered, they searched the vehicle and discovered a cache of fake passports and driver's licenses, along with a shotgun, a loaded handgun and a high-capacity magazine, officials said.  He was soon booked on weapons charges, and sprung after posting $5,000 bail, but the sheriff turned around and told the Riverside Press-Enterprise that his department had all but saved Trump's life.  Federal agencies, however, appear to disagree.

Possible Third Assassination Attempt Thwarted by Police at Coachella Trump Rally.  According to reports surfacing today, a 49-year-old heavily armed suspect was stopped from entering the VIP section of Trump's rally in California.  The man had a fake VIP pass, fake credentials and unregistered weapons.

Armed Man Arrested Outside Trump Rally in California Faces Gun Charges.  The Riverside County Sheriff's Department arrested an armed man outside the perimeter of a Trump rally in the city of Coachella in Southern California, 130 miles east of Los Angeles, on Oct. 12.  The arrest was made before former President Trump arrived on site.  At an afternoon press conference, the sheriff said he believes his deputies most likely helped thwart another assassination attempt.  "I certainly wouldn't want to be saying, after the fact, that I wish we would have done something to prevent that shooting."  He said, "From a state law enforcement agency's perspective, the firearms charges are what we arrested him for and booked him on ... There were two guns, and multiple boxes of ammunition for both, there was a handgun and a shotgun.  "We know that we prevented something bad from happening, and it's irrelevant what that bad was going to be."

Attempt #2
September 15, 2024.

Despite the USSS, Donald Trump Has Survived Two Assassination Attempts.  Clearly, the DOJ, FBI, DHS, CIA, and the United States Secret Service (USSS) failed in their mission of protecting presidential candidates.  Donald Trump is not just a former president but is running for a second term.  Trump is likely to be the 47th president.  With the current geo-political atmosphere, Trump poses an existential threat to our enemies, both foreign and domestic.  These enemies, whom I call the Cabal and the Deep State (the unelected administrative state), have compromised or corrupted our government.  Because of these threats, the government must afford Trump the best protection possible.  This only makes common sense for top-tier candidates.  Instead, as details slowly dribble out, we've learned that the Biden administration begrudgingly provided Trump with only third-rate protection.  Why?  Were these failures the result of total incompetence or intentional and deliberate lack of protection?  Why and by whom?

Trump Assassination Suspect Ryan Wesley Routh Pleads Not Guilty.  The suspect who allegedly attempted to assassinate former President Donald Trump pleaded not guilty to the charges brought against him.  Ryan Wesley Routh was previously charged with the "attempted assassination of a major presidential candidate, possessing a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence, assaulting a federal officer," possessing a firearm and ammunition as a convicted felon, and possessing a firearm that had an obliterated serial number, according to a press release from the Department of Justice (DOJ).  On Monday, Routh appeared before United States Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart, and defense attorneys for Routh reportedly "entered a not guilty plea" and asked for "a jury trial," according to NBC News.

It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad Fake Presidential Race.  Trump was recently the victim of yet another assassination attempt.  Apparently.  The same people who believe the first attempt, in Butler Pennsylvania two months ago, was staged, naturally believe this one was fake, too.  And they both might very well have been. [...] The alleged would-be assassin is supposedly one Ryan Wesley Routh.  Another three namer — who could have predicted that? [...] We are told that the FBI and Interpol were "warned" about him.  We are told this, after the fact, about most of the accused perpetrators of high profile crimes.  We understand how corrupt and incompetent the FBI has always been, so it makes sense that they would ignore "warnings" about any potentially dangerous individual.  I suppose Interpol is no better.  Maybe they can hire more people, with better lone nut detectors. [...] Now I am fully aware that many are dubious about this attempt, just as they are about the incident in Pennsylvania.  I am, too.  Why would we believe anything that is reported, by a media that is simply regurgitating talking points from "authorities" that lie to us about everything?  How did Routh know Trump was going to be at the golf course, the skeptics are asking.  Good question.

Trump Assassin Was Registered on DHS/FBI Watch List, but "Fell Through the Cracks".  In the latest development of attempted President Trump assassin Ryan Routh, the Dept of Homeland Security and FBI are now admitting that Routh was on a watch list of Americans who traveled to fight with Ukraine.  The people on the watch list were supposed to be scrutinized and tracked when they reentered the USA.  However, Ryan Routh, "fell through the cracks," thereby giving him space and opportunity to carry out his long-planned assassination attempt against President Trump.  The revelation itself is not a surprise.  There is a consistent pattern of names registered with the FBI as potential threats to the homeland who "fall through the cracks," including the Tsarnaev brothers (Boston Marathon), Tashfeen Malik (San Bernardino terrorists) and Omar Mateen (Pulse nightclub).  It is always the crack fallers who seemingly end up carrying out their endeavors.  It's likely the only reason DHS and the FBI are admitting to the almost fatal "mistake," is because there is a document trail for Ryan Routh which will come to light as an outcome of DC's "assassination review task force."  After all, Ryan Routh met with "someone" in Washington DC, when he was there advocating for intervention.

Alan Dershowitz:  Feds May Not Be Able To Prosecute Would-Be Trump Assassin For Attempted Assassination.  Alan Dershowitz expressed doubt on Monday that federal prosecutors could make a case for attempted murder against the man accused of trying to assassinate former President Donald Trump on Sept. 15. [...] Dershowitz said that despite Routh's intent to kill Trump, it was not clear that all of the legal elements for attempted murder were present.  "Based on my experience, I don't think they have a case for attempted assassination," Dershowitz said.  "Let me explain why, this is gonna sound so counterintuitive.  The guy obviously wanted to kill the president and he took actions to kill the president.  Now here... you're getting a free Harvard criminal law class."  "If he conspired with somebody else to do, it would be an open and shut case, because for conspiracy all you need is an agreement to kill the president or to try to kill the president, and he did certainly agree with himself, he certainly made up his mind," Dershowitz continued.  "We have the evidence, the letter, he wrote a letter... saying 'I wanted to kill the president, I tried to kill the president, I failed, I'm giving $150,000 to anybody else who succeeds.'  So, if it were conspiracy, it would be a clear case, conspiracy to assassinate the president, open and shut.  Why isn't it an open and shut case for attempt?"

Trump assassination attempt suspect Ryan Routh's son arrested on child porn charges.  The son of alleged would-be Donald Trump assassin Ryan Wesley Routh was arrested Tuesday morning on child pornography charges after the feds found hundreds of sick images when they searched his phone following his dad's arrest.  Oran Routh, 35, is accused in a North Carolina federal court of receiving and possessing child porn — a fact which the feds discovered on Sept. 21 when they were searching his Greensboro home in connection to a separate investigation, according to a criminal complaint.  Oran is the son of Ryan Routh, who is accused of trying to kill the former president while he was golfing at his club in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Sept. 15.

Who REALLY tried to kill Trump?  It's the mystery gripping America.  How has Donald Trump escaped a second attempt on his life just two months after he was almost assassinated at an election rally in Pennsylvania?  Like the first time, the threat was terrifyingly close.  Trump was playing a round of golf on Sunday afternoon at one of his usual courses when his security detail spotted the barrel of a rifle sticking through a perimeter fence near the sixth hole.  Ryan Wesley Routh, 58, fled as soon as the Secret Service shot at him, and was later arrested some 50 miles away. [...] Given that his game had been a last-minute addition to his schedule, how did Routh know Trump would be at the course?  That's the 'million-dollar question', said Florida sheriff Will Snyder.  As former FBI Director Chris Swecker said:  'There are only three possible answers.  He guessed and got very lucky; he conducted surveillance on Trump and followed him to the golf course; or he had inside information about Trump's schedule.  'The last answer is scary and has implications that another person was involved.'

Failed Assassin Ryan Routh Pledged 6-Figure Bounty on Trump, Admits Democrat-Inspired Motive in Months-Old Letter.  Federal prosecutors have revealed that Ryan Routh, the suspect in the second failed assassination of former President Donald Trump, wrote a letter months in advance outlining his plans. [...] According to court documents, Routh placed the letter in a box along with ammunition and other writings before delivering it to an unnamed witness "several months" before the incident at Trump's West Palm Beach golf course in Florida.  The witness, who did not open the box until learning of the attempted assassination, discovered the letter and additional disturbing contents.  The letter also offered a $150,000 bounty to "whomever can complete the job."

The Editor says...
[#1] Where did he get that amount of money?  [#2] I'm no lawyer, but isn't the $150,000 offer an additional offense?  [#3] Why is the federal government advertising his offer?

Gunman offers $150,000 'bounty' for killing Trump in letter, DoJ releases it to the public.  [Scroll down]  Now, it may have been that the prosecutors wanted to add the attempted assassination charges onto this dirtbag and this was the best proof of his intentions out there.  They also found that he had an escape plan to Mexico, and multiple phones and pairs of gloves on him as if he had planned everything in advance.  Why he wrote the letter is strange, it's possible there were other letters in that box addressing "the world" which were to be read in case the attempt succeeded.  But the federal prosecutors released this one, which rather accurately seems to indicate that he meant to kill Trump.  He also got it out there that he failed and he wanted others to try as a result.  Just the release of his call to action to the public is what has raised eyebrows among many.  Whether he has that cash he promises, and where he got it from is another issue.  But right now, it amounts to an encouragement for more assassination attempts, just as he wants, which seems rather contrary to the law enforcement goal of shutting him down for good.

Did the Biden-Harris DOJ Put a Bounty on Trump's Head?  On Monday, the Department of Justice released a handwritten letter from Ryan Wesley Routh, the suspect in the attempted assassination of Donald Trump.  The letter, written months before the attempt, was turned over to authorities by a witness who received it along with other items in a box several months prior.  [Advertisement]  And the son of Donald Trump, Donald Trump Jr., is blasting the Department of Justice for releasing the letter. [...] It certainly is curious why the Biden-Harris administration released this letter publicly, when, more often than not, the manifestos of killers are kept under wraps as much as possible.  For example the manifesto of the Covenant School shooter has yet to be fully released, despite the fact that there is significant public interest in the transgender shooter's motives.  So far, only small portions of her writings have managed to be released or leaked.

Why would the government publicize this letter, especially before the man's trial?
Biden's DOJ Releases Reward Letter from Would-Be Assassin Offering Cash to Anyone Who Will Finish the Job He Started.  Joe Biden's Department of Justice released a ten page pre-trial memorandum in support of a pre-trial detention of would-be Trump assassin Ryan Wesley Routh.  Routh was captured after attempting to assassinate President Donald Trump on a Florida golf course on Septamber 15th.  This was the second assassination attempt on President Trump in two months.  It is not clear at this point how he knew that Trump would be playing a round of golf at that same course that Saturday.  Routh, who was apprehended in West Palm Beach with a scoped AK-47 before the Secret Service intervened, had previously expressed an obsessive fixation on Ukraine and even conducted interviews boasting of his commitment to die for their cause.

Black's Law Dictionary, Sixth Edition, page 799.

Oh Yeah, They Tried To Kill The President.  You might think that an attempt to shoot the president — okay, the former president and likely the next one, but you know what I mean — would be a big deal.  And you might think that two attempts to shoot him in the space of a couple of months might be an even bigger deal.  But you would be wrong. [...] Now, one scuzz wounds the president and a couple of other people, plus kills Corey Competore, and it's no biggie.  Next, some Harris-Walz voter tried to ambush Trump on the fairway.  And is this a huge story?  Nah.  They did not even interrupt the sportsball games for a special report.  I mean, sure, an assassination attempt is no pet-noshing narrative.  It's just a couple of committed Democrats trying to change the course of American history with guns because Orange Man Bad.  And the regime media is okay with that.

Prosecutors file alleged letter from Trump suspect: 'This was an assassination attempt'.  The suspect being investigated in the recent apparent assassination attempt of former President Trump wrote a letter detailing his plans months prior, prosecutors alleged in court documents filed Monday.  "Dear world, this was an assassination attempt on Donald Trump but I am so sorry I failed you.  I tried my best and gave it all the gumption I could muster," the alleged letter reads.  Prosecutors said Ryan Routh, the 58-year-old suspect, put the letter inside a box and dropped it off with an unnamed witness "several months" before he pushed the muzzle of a rifle through the perimeter of Trump's West Palm Beach golf course in Florida on Sept. 15.  The witness only opened the box, which also contained ammunition and other letters, after learning of the incident.  The filing also revealed that Routh's phone pinged cell towers near Trump's golf course and Mar-a-Lago for nearly a month in the lead-up to the incident.  When searching Routh's car, authorities also purportedly found a handwritten list of dates and venues where Trump had appeared or was expected to be present.

Lots of 'Coincidences' in Trump Assassination Attempts.  The U.S. Secret Service (USSS), established as a personal bodyguard for U.S. presidents, is playing an increasingly dangerous role in U.S. politics.  Assassination attempts on the life of former president Donald Trump, by Ryan Routh on September 18 and Thomas Crooks at Butler, Pennsylvania, raise the disturbing possibility of designed convergences of security lapses that give assassins the opportunity to kill.  Details are still missing regarding Routh's attempt, but he apparently camped out for approximately 12 hours waiting for Trump to appear at hole 6 of the Trump International Golf Club.  Trump was headed that way, teeing off at hole 5 when a Secret Service agent saw a rifle sticking through some shrubbery and flushed Routh out with a few shots.  There was no prior sweep done of the golf course.

When Character Assassination Becomes the Real Thing.  If Democrats didn't believe they'd put former President Donald Trump in an assassin's crosshairs the first time, they have no excuse for pleading innocent now.  Ryan Routh, the suspect who hid in the bushes at Trump's West Palm Beach golf club waiting for his shot at the former president — AK-47-style rifle at the ready, serial number filed off — wasn't some 20-year-old without a political paper trail, like the first would-be assassin, Thomas Crooks.  Routh, 58 and now in custody, "frequently posted about politics" on X and other social media, had a Biden-Harris sticker on his truck, "and exclusively donated to Democratic candidates and causes dating back to 2019," the New York Post reports.  He even featured in a New York Times story last year highlighting his efforts to recruit Afghan soldiers to fight against Russia in Ukraine.  Willing to fight in Ukraine himself — although the Ukrainians didn't want him or his dubious recruits — Routh wanted to be a man of action and was ready to kill for a cause.

Tucker goes deep on Trump golf course gunman and his DC connections.  Former President Donald Trump shared a damning video clip of Tucker Carlson talking about the man arrested for what authorities believe was a second assassination attempt on the former president while he was golfing in Florida and the suspect's dubious ties to the media and other agencies in DC.  Speaking during an appearance on his live tour program, Carlson began with a focus on Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and how he is trying to blame Iran for the latest attempt on Trump's life, insisting that the "warmonger" is lying.  That's when he turned his attention to Ryan Wesley Routh, the suspected gunman spotted by a Secret Service agent.  "Well, the guy who shot Trump was also a warmonger and in fact, the closer you look at it, the more you realize his politics are exactly the same as Lindsey Graham's, he's a neocon.  He literally volunteered in Ukraine," Carlson said, before noting Routh "has been interviewed by every media outlet in Washington."

DeSantis: Fed Investigators Refuse to Cooperate With Florida's Assassination Attempt Probe.  Florida Governor Ron DeSantis on Thursday said that federal investigators have refused to cooperate with state officials conducting their own investigation into the second assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump, which occurred Sunday at the Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach.  [Advertisement]  During an interview with Fox News host Laura Ingraham — after signing an executive order earlier this week authorizing Florida's attorney general to open a criminal investigation into the incident — DeSantis said the feds have rebuffed state officials several times.

Trump Assassins:  Off-the-Books Assets?  Prior to their respective assassination attempts targeting Trump, Ryan Routh and Thomas Crooks had extraordinary proximity to U.S. Intelligence, demonstrated foreknowledge of Trump's schedule and security, and acquired skills that intelligence agencies have a history of sharing with assets.  Routh staked out Trump's golf club for twelve hours, lying in wait behind bushes to ambush him during an unscheduled game of golf.  Unfamiliar with the locale, Routh managed to give security the slip, bringing an AK-47-style rifle onto Trump's golf course.  Routh managed to give a U.S. Secret Service agent the slip again after being fired upon, losing his pursuer despite initially being only ten feet away from the agent (whose gunfire somehow missed Routh), escaping in his vehicle only to be caught later thanks to a witness who snapped a picture of his license plate.  For the second time, it was not the Secret Service, but locals who caught the gunman.

Rep. Matt Gaetz:  Some Colleagues Suspicious of a Secret Service Mole.  Some lawmakers are suspicious of a potential mole in the U.S. Secret Service following the second assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump, Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) said during an appearance on Breitbart News Daily.  Host Mike Slater pointed to the fact that now, after the second assassination attempt on Trump, the "aura of invincibility of the Secret Service" is disappearing, which could lead to more individuals with ill-intent attempting to go after the former president.  "It's a great point.  The barrier to entry to assassination chaos seems to be lowered," Gaetz said, noting that he has colleagues who are suspicious that there is something more nefarious at play within the Secret Service.

Ron DeSantis Says The FBI Is Not Cooperating With Florida Investigators At All On The Trump Assassination At All.  Ron DeSantis says the FBI is *not* being cooperative with his investigation into the 2nd Trump assassination attempt, and says he is "concerned."  This isn't suspicious at all.  DeSantis blasted the FBI and even related the Florida incident to the Las Vegas shooting years ago.  "They're not being cooperative.  Yes, I am concerned.  For example, our investigators were rebuffed just going to the fence line outside of Trump International golf club in West Palm Beach."  "They don't want the state of Florida to be involved in this."  "But here's the thing, there were multiple violations of Florida law across multiple jurisdictions."  [Video clip]

The Editor says...
That sounds like more than a turf war.  It sounds like there are some important details to this story that the feds want to keep quiet.

Records Fail To Verify That Second Alleged Would-Be Assassin Ever Voted For Trump.  Ryan Wesley Routh, the man accused in the second attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump, has previously said he regrets voting for Trump in 2016.  Some media outlets have taken his words at face value. [...] [I]f an accused would-be assassin with a long criminal rap sheet says he voted for the guy he's alleged to have aimed his gun at, check it out.  In this case, that is not a simple task.  The available evidence does not seem to verify that Routh voted for Trump at all, and it is clear his criminal history far predates his alleged assassination attempt. [...] Routh made modest donations through ActBlue to Democrat campaigns in 2019 and 2020, including contributions to Tulsi Gabbard, Elizabeth Warren, Andrew Yang, Beto O'Rourke, and Tom Steyer.  The "source information" for these donations indicates that they were based in Kaaawa, Hawaii, and that the donor was listed as "not employed."  The donations ranged from $1 to $25.  Most recently, Routh voted in person, as a Democrat, in North Carolina's March 5, 2024, primary election, according to state voting records.  Therefore, he could be registered to vote in both states.

17% Say America Would Be Better Off If Trump Had Been Killed.  The desensitization of some Americans following the second assassination attempt of former President Trump is alarming.  Seventeen percent (17%) of voters believe America would have been better off if former President Trump had been killed in last week's attempted assassination. [...] Forty-nine percent (49%) of Democrats think it's at least somewhat likely that Trump himself or the Trump campaign was involved with the assassination attempt, with 21% saying it was very likely.  Fifty-two percent (52%) of Republicans think it's at least somewhat likely that the Democratic Party or the Harris campaign was involved, with 28% saying it's very likely.

A Target on His Back.  You can almost feel it, the rising excitement in the lunatic fringe.  The Secret Service and the FBI have shown themselves to be ineffective in protecting the former President — whether through DEI-fomented incompetence or by Machiavellian design.  Pure luck or divine intervention prevented Trump's assassination in Pennsylvania when he providentially turned his head, so the bullet only struck his ear; stupidity prevented it in Florida when the assassin allowed the barrel of his rifle to be spotted by a member of Trump's security detail.  The repeated failures of the security agencies have sent a message to the crazies on the Left:  go ahead and take your best shot.  You can practically hear the hundreds of lefty lunatics scrambling to gather guns, knives, bombs, poisons, deadly gas, and anything else they can think of to use in their efforts to 'get Trump.'

Josh Hawley [Releases] Disturbing Whistleblower Info on Second Assassination Attempt.  The information that we've already heard about the second attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump has been troubling.  A Secret Service agent amazingly was able to stop the alleged suspect by shooting at him, and then a witness coincidentally spotted the suspect and got his license plate.  But how was the guy able to get that close to begin with?  And then, on top of it, as we reported, he was supposedly hanging out there, in wait, in his nest for 12 hours.  Why didn't they see him before then?  Now, there's more information from new whistleblowers about what was happening.  At this point, one has to be screaming from the rooftops that there is something very wrong going on with this security coverage.  Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) appeared on Jesse Watters' show on Fox Wednesday night.  Hawley relayed that the whistleblowers said the Secret Service has guarded that golf course "many times in the past."  [Tweet]

Interesting Detail — U.S. Secret Service Agent Was Less Than 10 feet Away When He Shot at Ryan Routh.  Perhaps this was already known, but it was a new detail to me.  The U.S. Secret Service gave congressional investigators a briefing on the Trump assassination attempt by Ryan Routh at Trump National in Florida.  According to Florida Representative Mike Waltz, who is a member of the committee investigating, apparently the U.S. Secret Service agent walked up on Routh from the fence line and saw the barrel of the SKS rifle.  The proactive shots fired by the agent were from within 10 feet of Ryan Routh.  The detail comes at the end of this discussion segment with Laura Ingraham.  [Video clip]

Assassination attempts on Trump fuel distrust of the government.  The repeated attempts on former President Donald Trump's life have deepened conservatives' distrust of the government and the criminal justice system, including suspicions that Democrats and high-ranking officials are rooting for attempted assassins.  White House officials aren't backing off their rhetoric.  A day after the assassination attempt Sunday, they framed Mr. Trump as "dangerous" and a "threat" to Democracy.  At the same time, Republicans are intensifying scrutiny of the Secret Service and whether it is purposefully leaving the former president vulnerable.  Rep. Elijah Crane, Arizona Republican, said Mr. Trump should increase his use of private bodyguards rather than rely on government agents to protect him.

Deep State Democrats and the Continuing Attempts to Kill President Trump.  What triggers the left-wing media?  Outrage and their ego.  They're outraged by sarcastic memes about illegal migrants eating cats and geese.  They're upset at those memes from "unsubstantiated" political remarks that mock the Democrats and Vice President Kamala Harris and President Joe Biden for overwhelming a small town in Ohio.  What is "substantiated" is that Biden and Harris have sent an unwanted 20,000 or so impoverished migrants from violent Haiti to Springfield, OH.  Yes, this an outrage!  The Democrats will not be ridiculed, especially not with memes.  But a president murdered before an election?  That doesn't stoke media's indignation.  "Today's apparent assassination attempt comes amid increasingly fierce rhetoric on the campaign trail itself," said NBC's Lester Holt.  "Mr. Trump, his running mate JD Vance, continue to make baseless claims about Haitian immigrants in [Springfield] Ohio."  And former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton [...] argued the most important thing is that the news media is not doing enough to portray Trump as a threat to democracy.

Idiotic regime media interview totally crazy man because his rants flatter their geopolitical preconceptions.  Last Sunday, a totally crazy man named Ryan Wesley Routh hid in the bushes outside the fence of the Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach with a rifle, apparently waiting to ambush Donald Trump while he played a game of golf.  Secret Service agents, who had failed to secure the perimeter of the golf course, noticed Routh's rifle protruding from the shrubbery and shot at him.  Routh fled, but was later arrested.  Here is looking like a lunatic in the back of a police car:  [Photo]  Routh has been a convicted felon since 2002, after he barricaded himself in a building with an automatic weapon.  He's also collected criminal charges for possession of stolen goods, possession of a stolen motor vehicle and various driving offences — all while working as a builder and alienating a wide variety of people along the way: [...] The war in Ukraine pushed Routh over the edge.  He flew to Kiev with ambitions of fighting the Russians, but because he was in his mid-fifties and mentally unstable, the International Legion turned him down.

They Mean to Incite Violence.  Democrats and corporate media keep getting away with it.  What they're getting away with is inciting violence — against Donald Trump, first and foremost.  Two assassination attempts didn't happen in a void.  Trump didn't provoke Thomas Matthew Crooks and Ryan Wesley Routh to try to kill him, despite Lester Holt's spin.  Holt's broadside is predictable: project blame — in this case, blame the victim.  Democrats and their media watercarriers refuse to accept responsibility for wrongs, even when the proof is hiding in plain sight. [...] Demonization is meant to end Trump, regardless the means.  The rhetoric is designed to paint Trump as not merely objectionable, but demonic.  Should he recapture the presidency, his enemies say, apocalypse will ensue.

Blaming Trump for His Assassination Attempt Just Took an Insane Turn at The Washington Post.  The former president dodged a bullet — literally — while golfing at Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida, over the weekend.  Ryan Wesley Routh was hiding in a shrubbery along the course for 12 hours before Secret Service agents discovered his location while doing a routine security sweep ahead of the president and uprooted his evil plan.  The course was not fully cleared before Trump's arrival, and there are questions regarding whether a drone should have been used again.  Yet, the media knows the real culprit of this story is Donald J. Trump.  The victim-blaming has been insufferable.  It's a game the Left will lose since their lack of principals and overall intelligence allow for pervasive outmaneuvering when the rubber hits the road.  If Trump is responsive for January 6, a standard liberal narrative, then Democrats are responsible for inciting Routh and Thomas Matthew Crooks, the Butler rally assassin, into killing a presidential candidate.  The publication highlighted Trump's love of golf to frame their 'he was asking for it' narrative:  [Tweet]

Agent 00-Zero.  After yet another assassination attempt on Donald Trump — or as The New York Times calls it, "what the FBI is calling an assassination attempt" — it's time for Trump to hire Blackwater to do his security.  (You can choose your own pronouns, but it's up to the Times to decide if someone tried to assassinate you.)

I Read the Would-be Trump Assassin's Book So You Don't Have To.  On Sunday, Hawaii resident and convicted felon Ryan Routh was arrested after allegedly attempting to assassinate Donald Trump at the former president's golf club in West Palm Beach, Florida.  Although Routh's precise motive remains unclear, his self-published book — [Title omitted for brevity, among other things.] (2023) — offer some insights into his worldview.  Part political manifesto, part memoir, the book provides a wellspring of information about Routh's eccentric political opinions and bizarre personality.  Here are several key takeaways:  [#1] Routh is obsessed with the war in Ukraine.

Fox News Cuts Off Pundit for Outlining Opinion, "Democrat Party Want's Trump Dead".  Former Navy SEAL Johnathan Gilliam appeared on FOX News to discuss the latest assassination attempts against the life of President Trump.  After outlining the reality of President Trump's perimeter proximity not being secured by Secret Service, Mr Gilliam expands the conversation to ask if this is continual mistakes or whether a systemic security issue exists.  Gilliam notes the rhetoric of the Democrat Party over the last several years that support the contention that "democrats want President Trump dead," Fox News host Stuart Varney gets upset calling such a perspective "a conspiracy theory."  Immediately thereafter the interview was ended.  [Video clip]

White House Doubles Down on Trump Being a 'Threat' After Latest Brush With Death.  I can't recall anyone uttering anything this irresponsible from the White House podium.  Ever.  In the first White House presser since the latest attempt on former President Trump's life, Biden Administration spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre shockingly doubled down on vile, anti-Trump rhetoric that arguably led to yet another attempted assassination attempt.  [Advertisement]  In a jujitsu of what she thinks passes for logic, Karine Jean-Pierre told the White House press corps that Trump was a threat to democracy.  When Fox News White House reporter Peter Doocy challenged her, KJP told Doocy that his question was "dangerous."  This is just hours after Joe Biden and Kamala Harris in the White House urged Americans to tone down the political rhetoric after Trump's brush with a would-be assassin on Sunday.  The shocked Doocy asked Jean-Pierre, "How many more assassination attempts on Donald Trump until the president, vice president, and you pick a different word other than threat?"

Professional Political Gaslighting from the White House Press Secretary.  This short video segment highlights exactly what professional gaslighting looks like.  The White House staff, Joe Biden and the White House press secretary have repeatedly called President Trump "a threat to democracy."  And now, following the second assassination attempt on President Trump's life, the White House press secretary is appalled that anyone would say their rhetoric and calling President Trump a "threat" was any form of incitement.  In fact, asking the White House about their own language choices is akin to attacking them.  Within the clip the Press Secretary immediately claims victim status, and then decries the effort to ask her questions about her statements.  [Video clip]

The Biden/Harris Legacy.  Take a moment to think about this.  Under the Biden/Harris administration, we now have two unsuccessful attempts to assassinate the former President of the United States.  The Biden/Harris administration has repeatedly refused to provide enhanced Secret Service protection to President Trump during this run for re-election.  Concurrent with and immediately before both attempts, Biden and Harris have repeatedly used inflammatory rhetoric targeting President Trump.  Regarding the Biden/Harris presidential administration, what will history record?  I suggest that it is likely that the Biden/Harris administration will be recorded as highly corrupt and incompetent.  An administration with a constant appetite for war and other foreign adventures (Nordstream, for example) and yet curiously incompetent in the management of war.  Witness the withdrawal from Afghanistan and the enormously expensive and mismanaged Ukrainian misadventure.

DeSantis Explains Why Florida Will Conduct Its Own Investigation Into the Trump Assassination Attempt.  In a press conference on Tuesday, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) appeared in a press conference to detail why his state would take the lead on the investigation into the second assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump. [...] In a press conference on Tuesday, DeSantis doubled-down on his decision to let the state of Florida handle the investigation into the second assassination attempt against Trump.  [Tweet]  "This guy was doing a lot of stuff.  He's got a rap sheet," DeSantis said of Routh.  "We need answers on this."  [Advertisement]  "We have the ability to pursue potentially life in prison under state law," DeSantis explained.  "That's a huge reason why we should move forward at the state level."  In the press conference, DeSantis noted that he's spoken to Trump and that he is in "good spirits."

FBI Agent Investigating Second Assassination Attempt Allegedly Made 'Anti-Trump' Posts.  When FBI Special Agent Jeffrey Veltri addressed a room of reporters Sunday, he presented himself as a disinterested investigator in the second attempt on former President Donald Trump's life.  But Veltri was known at the FBI to be "adamantly and vocally anti-Trump," according to a whistleblower account reported by The Washington Times.  "The FBI has assumed the role as the lead federal law enforcement agency in the investigation," said Veltri, who is in charge of the FBI Miami Field Office, in the press conference.  "We will continue to support this investigation with the full resources of the FBI."  Veltri appeared alongside Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw, Palm Beach State Attorney Dave Aronberg, and a spokesman for the U.S. Secret Service to discuss the second assassination attempt against Trump, which occurred as the former president played golf Sunday afternoon in Palm Beach.

Are the Democrats trying to assassinate President Trump, or are they just rooting for it?  Shortly after Donald Trump was inaugurated after the 2016 election, a so-called comedienne posted a picture of herself holding Trump's severed, bloodied head.  That apparently passes for comedy among Democrats.  In a presentation of Julius Caesar in the venerable Shakespeare in the Park production in New York City a few months later, a likeness of Trump was cast in the role of Caesar.  I don't need to remind you what happens to Caesar in the end.  The violent rhetoric from Democrats just keeps on coming, through Trump's first term, into this year's re-election campaign, and right up to weeks before the election.  And now, it's predictably escalating from violent rhetoric and into violent acts.  A month ago, a would-be assassin missed Trump's cranium by a quarter-inch with a bullet from an AR-15, only because Trump luckily turned at the last possible second.  It came out that the Trump campaign had requested beefed-up security prior to the incident, and the White House had denied his request.

Trump Campaign: 'They Are Literally Trying To Kill the Guy'.  The last presidential debate was not even halfway over when Donald Trump accused his opponent of a careless kind of rhetoric that nearly got him killed: "I probably took a bullet to the head because of the things that they say about me."  Kamala Harris did not respond because ABC News moderator David Muir quickly moved on.  "We have a lot to get to," the anchorman said, teeing up his colleague, Linsey Davis, who then asked the vice president why so many of her policy positions have changed.  In this way, an attempt on the life of the presidential candidate, something not seen for decades in the United States, was largely ignored.  Five days later, a second apparent assassination attempt was foiled when the Secret Service confronted a gunman outside Trump's Florida golf course.  Now, less than 50 days before the election, Trump is again laying the blame at the feet of Democrats, eager to keep the public, the press, and his opponent from turning the page again on the latest episode in modern political violence.

FBI Knew Ryan Routh Was a "Felon in Possession of a Firearm" for the Last Five Years.  In a press conference held on Monday, the FBI provided critical information regarding the suspect in the recent assassination attempt on 2024 GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump.  The individual, identified as Ryan Wesley Routh, had previously been the subject of a tip to the FBI, which alleged that he was a felon in possession of a firearm.  "By way of his background, in 2002, as the United States Attorney mentioned, the suspect was charged and convicted in North Carolina for possession of mass destruction," stated Jeffrey Veltri, the special agent in charge of the FBI's Miami field office.  This alarming history raises serious questions about how such individuals are able to evade scrutiny.  [Tweet[

Democrats Aren't Going to Stop If They Kill Trump.  Starting with violence against police and private property in the Occupy Wall Street movement and their excusing sexual violence against their own people at those same encampments across the country, the Democratic Party has run toward violent thugs willing to throw Molotov Cocktails at civilized society.  At first, their violence was ignored.  Then it was excused and watered down — had you ever heard of a "mostly peaceful" riot before Democrats needed to mislead the public on how entire segments of cities were being destroyed?  Now, the violence of Democratic Party Brownshirts is simply a matter of fact and barely reported.  If you don't watch Fox News or go to conservative news websites, you'd likely be unaware of what was happening on liberal college campuses across the country since Hamas attacked Israel, and you'd never know it's still happening.  It's just a fact of life now, an entrenched reality unworthy of attention.  It took only a very short time to normalize the violence of the left, and there is no reason to think they are done with it.

The Idolization of Hate.  It appears the attempted assassin is a man named Ryan Wesley Routh.  The UK's Daily Mail reached out to his son, Oran, for his thoughts.  When they contacted him, Oran stated that he hadn't been aware of the assassination attempt until the moment they asked him for comment.  In other words, a foreign newspaper was able to identify and locate the shooter's son (who, for all anyone knew at the time, might have been involved) before our gazillion-dollar-budget FBI, Secret Service, or vaunted intelligence community did.  And this was after they'd let another leftist get within shooting distance of the former president.  And this was after it was a vigilant citizen and Florida police, not the feds, who identified and arrested the would-be assassin.  Way to be on your A-game, boys.  But upon hearing that his father was the suspected assassin, 35-year-old Oran stated that his dad "hates Trump, as every reasonable person does."  That's how Oran wanted to present himself and his father to the world.  No apology, no call for privacy for the family, no pleading to see how the investigation unfolds, not even the obligatory lip service against political violence.  Just a crude statement of hate.  The apple didn't fall far from the tree.

MSNBC Columnist Says Routh Was Justified in Wanting to Take a Shot at Trump.  Steve Benen, a former blogger for the Washington Monthly and current producer and contributor to "The Rachel Maddow Show," thinks the Mar-a-Largo would-be assassin was justified in wanting to take a shot at former president Donald Trump.  [Advertisement]  Or, in Benen's words, "the alleged would-be shooter."  Benen is complaining that Donald Trump is blaming Democrats for using violent rhetoric that motivated Routh to try to kill the former president.  But Routh is right, claims Benen.  Trump is, indeed, a "threat to democracy."  [Tweet]  First of all, it takes a special kind of moral blindness to excuse a would-be presidential assassin.  Beyond that, Benen employs exactly the same arguments used by the right to push back against the left when they blame conservatives for school shootings or any other violence.

Here's Why the Media Will Memory-Hole the Latest Trump Assassination Attempt.  On Sunday, there was another attempt on Donald Trump's life — the second in just over two months.  The shooter, armed with a scoped rifle, aimed through the fence of Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Fla., while Trump was golfing.  Thankfully, Secret Service agents quickly thwarted the plot after spotting the rifle barrel protruding from the shrubbery and immediately opening fire.  Routh fled, but local authorities swiftly apprehended him without resistance before he could escape.  [Advertisement]  How did we get to this point where we have two nearly successful assassination attempts within weeks of each other?  After what happened in Butler, Pa., in July, it was reasonable to assume that the Secret Service would have addressed security weaknesses.  That a shooter was able to get so close to firing at Trump reflects very poorly on the Secret Service and its ability to protect those under its watch.  Yet that doesn't seem to be the main concern of the liberal media.  They have concerns, for sure, but they're very much misplaced.  On Sunday night, CNN's Juliette Kayyem expressed concern over the second assassination attempt on Trump, warning that it "could have impacted voters" and will likely "be used for political purposes."  She called the situation "exceptionally unfortunate."

Reporter Wonders Why Media Took Routh Seriously — and Answers the Question.  We actually have two questions that require answers in the wake of Sunday's assassination attempt on Donald Trump by a (well-)"known wolf".  The first question:  Why didn't federal security and intel agencies take Ryan Wesley Routh seriously?  He had a decades-long track record of criminal activity, and numerous people tried to warn the FBI, Homeland Security, and the State Department of his dangerous nature.  [Advertisement]  We may wait a long time for a satisfactory explanation for that question.  Thanks to Tanya Lukyanova, however, we have a good answer to the second question:  Why did American media outlets take Routh seriously?  Lukyanova reported for Semafor a couple of years ago and interviewed Routh, and was hardly alone.  Lots of news outlets — and Lukyanova brings receipts — treated Routh as a good source for their narratives on Ukraine, even while Routh himself clearly had some mental health and judgment issues: [...]

The Deadly 'Get Trump' Climate Continues.  Just two months after the failed Trump assassination attempt by one Thomas Matthew Crooks, we witnessed Sunday yet another foiled one, by Ryan Wesley Routh — a would-be assassin and anti-Trump/radical pro-Ukraine War social media addict.  Somehow he, too, once again got within relatively easy shooting range of former President Donald Trump.  Is there a continued pattern here of lax Trump Secret Service protection, coupled with a general social media and televised climate that equates Trump with Hitler and lowers the bar on assassination?  That is, are we sending unambiguous messages to would-be assassins that a) lots of Trump-hating people would welcome an assassination attempt and canonize the wannabe assailant; b) it would not be that difficult to pull an assassination off, given security laxity and incompetence; and thus c) we will likely witness a series of such unhinged attempts?

Kamala Harris Sr. Adviser David Plouffe Previously Called for Extermination of Donald Trump and 'His Kind'.  Kamala Harris senior adviser David Plouffe once called for the extermination of former President Donald Trump and "his kind," according to a 2016 post on X — another example of Democrats calling for harm against the former president that has been highlighted in the wake of another assassination attempt.  Plouffe, a former adviser to then-President Barack Obama, posted on June 13, 2016, "It is not enough to simply beat Trump.  He must be destroyed thoroughly.  His kind must not rise again."  [Advertisement]  The Trump campaign highlighted the post in the wake of a second assassination attempt against him on Sunday, which was thwarted when Secret Service agents spotted a man with a rifle pointed through a fence where Trump was golfing at his private course in Florida.  [Advertisement]  The Trump campaign posted, "This guy is now a top official on Kamala Harris' campaign":  [Tweet]

Partisan Democrats hate so much they are willing to commit murder, and worse, now admit it openly.  When asked by a reporter of the Daily Mail what he thought of his father's actions, the son of attempted Trump assassin Ryan Routh said that his father hates Trump as "every reasonable person does.  I don't like Trump either."  The problem is that reasonable people don't hate.  Reasonable people think about the differing opinions of others and decide as rationally as possible what they think might be the right answer.  And if reasonable people are faced with true evil, they don't act with hatred.  They instead follow the biblical mantra, don't condemn the sinner, only the sin.  Routh's son however illustrates the contrasting attitude of the base as well as the leadership of today's Democratic Party.  They don't simply disagree, they hate.  Worse, they think that hatred is "reasonable," and that everyone "reasonable" agrees with it.  Thus you get two assassination attempts in just over two months against Donald Trump, whose only crime — according to Democrats — is that he is running for president against them, and has said he will change the governmental policies they believe in.

WSJ: Guess Who Was On the Feds' Radar?  After finding out about Ryan Wesley Routh's colorful history over the last 36 hours, one had to wonder how he'd managed to stay off the radar of the FBI, Homeland Security, and the State Department.  Routh had multiple felony convictions involving firearms, had traveled to Ukraine on multiple occasions to join their foreign legion, and had even gotten attention from the media for his extremism.  How could the feds not know about him?  Well, it turns out that they did.  The Wall Street Journal reported last night that several people tried to warn federal authorities that Routh was dangerously unhinged, warnings that apparently went nowhere[.]

12 Influencers Who Called for Violence Against Trump, Called Him an 'Existential Threat to Democracy'.  Ahead of the second assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump, many influential actors, journalists, and influencers warned that Trump is an "existential threat" to democracy, compared him to Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler, and suggested he or his supporters should face violent attacks.  Some continued attacking Trump even after the first assassination attempt July 13.  The New Tolerance Campaign, a nonprofit watchdog aimed at confronting "intolerance double standards" practiced by "establishment institutions, civil rights groups, universities, and socially conscious brands," compiled a list of extreme rhetoric against Trump that may have contributed to the second assassination attempt.  "New Tolerance Campaign research has shown two kinds of consistent and consistently charged rhetoric surrounding President Trump: insistence that his reelection would lead to the collapse of the country, and calls for the former president's death," Gregory T. Angelo, New Tolerance Campaign's president, told The Daily Signal in a written statement Monday.

Dana Bash Claims Second Would-Be Assassin's 'Anti-Trump Posts' Have 'Nothing To Do With Kamala Harris And Joe Biden'.  CNN's Dana Bash on Monday claimed that former President Donald Trump's attempted assassination suspect Ryan Wesley Routh's anti-Trump social media posts have no relation to Vice President Kamala Harris and President Joe Biden.  Trump accused Harris and Biden in a Monday Fox News Digital interview of espousing "rhetoric" that he claimed is contributing to the attempts on his life.  Bash, on "CNN Newsroom with Wolf Blitzer," noted that both Harris and Biden have said they are grateful Trump was unscathed after the second attempt and dismissed any suggestion that they influenced Routh, despite his posts, including one mirroring their repeated claim that "democracy is on the ballot," according to reports.

Why Was Big Tech So Quick to Scrub Ryan Routh's Accounts?  Anyone who works in media knows it's a race against time to find the social-media content of anyone involved in a high-profile crime.  Whether it's a school shooter or a political assassin like Ryan Routh, social media companies immediately lock down the accounts and hide them from the public.  [Advertisement]  Yesterday, just minutes after Routh's name began circulating, his X and Facebook accounts were disabled.  Fortunately, some quick-thinking individuals were able to access the social media posts before they were memory-holed, so we now know that Routh hated Trump and had extreme left-wing political views.  [Tweet]

JD Vance Blasts Dem/Media Hypocrisy Over Rhetoric.  Since Sunday's second assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump at the Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida, Democrats and the legacy media have been on overdrive in their efforts to blame Trump himself for the incident.  One way or another, they must find a way to hang the threat of violence against Trump around his own neck, even if that means twisting logic into an unrecognizable pretzel and dispending with any effort at consistency.  Trump's running mate, Sen. JD Vance (R-OH), had his hands full Sunday (prior to the attempt), making the rounds on the Sunday shows and going toe-to-toe with the likes of Dana Bash and her partisan fervor.

A second assassination attempt on President Trump, and all they can come up with is two minor gun charges?  A would-be assassin takes aim at a leading presidential contender and former president, and all the federal attorney can come up with as a charge are a couple of gun violations?  Something seems fishy out in Florida where the crime happened, home to a lot of federal officials who hate Trump. [...] A snaggle-toothed, bug-eyed freak attempts to assassinate a former president and leading presidential contender, and for the second time in two months, and all they can come up with is a gun charge?  It's strange stuff indeed given that he pointed what was reportedly a Dragunov SVD sniper rifle with a scope at his target from an easy 305 yards away, he somehow had the president's schedule, he had the money to make the trip despite not having any savings, he'd made crazed social media posts about hating the president and threatened to kill others, he had a backpack full of ceramic tiles to deflect return fire, and he had a fancy camera to record his act so that he could get it onto the television news.

How did Ryan Routh know where Trump would be?  The six unanswered questions about assassination attempt.  As the investigation into the attempted assassination of Donald Trump enters its second day, a number of questions remain unanswered.  Chiefly, how could suspect Ryan Wesley Routh have known where the Republican candidate would be?  And why would he have decided on such a drastic course of action? [...] It is unclear how the gunman would have been able to find out where Trump would be before taking up position at the former president's golf course in West Palm Beach, Florida.  Sources told US media that Trump's game of golf on Sunday with Steve Witkoff, a real estate investor, was a last-minute addition to his schedule.

Three Types of Assassination:  The Desperate Effort to Eliminate Trump.  This article is about three types of assassination.  The first, which President Trump has endured nonstop since he first entered the political arena, is character assassination.  The second is legal assassination, sometimes called "lawfare."  The term is appropriate, because it is derived from warfare.  This is the attempt to lawlessly, but under the guise of law, bankrupt, ruin, defame and even imprison a dangerous political opponent. [...] And finally, when all else fails, there is actual assassination.  These three types of assassination are connected, and typically one leads to another.

The second assassination attempt was not 'apparent'.  Everywhere I look for news updates on the Trump assassination attempt I'm confronted by the word "apparent."  Headlines all over legacy media (my browser's cache was chockful of them) disseminate variations of "Trump's apparent assassination attempt..."  Up until at least 0930 PST, the day after.  My goodness, the would-be assassin is a Dem donkey's ass-assin, without the wit to repugn the verbal violence from Dem asses against President Trump.  That's apparent, but his acting out is manifest.  The ass-assin wasn't out there shooting birdies with his AK-47 from the out-of-bounds rough on the golf course.  There was nothing "apparent" about it — his intentions (corroborated by his social media profile) were bleedin' obvious.

Suspect in apparent assassination attempt of Trump charged, may have been lying in wait for nearly 12 hours.  Ryan Wesley Routh, the suspect in the apparent assassination attempt of former President Donald Trump, may have been lying in wait for nearly 12 hours along the tree line at Trump's golf club, authorities said in a criminal complaint on Monday.  Routh, 58, was charged with possession of a firearm while a convicted felon and possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number during an initial appearance in federal court Monday morning.  The investigation into Sunday's apparent attempt on Trump's life is continuing, and additional charges could be brought, law enforcement officials familiar with the matter told CNN.  The initial gun-related charges were filed as prosecutors seek to keep Routh detained while authorities continue to investigate the incident.

Corruption within the Secret Service and the Supreme Court.  The big news from Sunday is that Trump — thank God — survived a second assassination attempt and, just as thankfully, no one else was killed or injured.  Currently, we have no explanation for the shooter's pinpoint accuracy regarding where he'd find Trump. [...] I won't rehash here what we currently know about the second attempt on Donald Trump's life in just two months.  You'd have to be a leftist not to know the available details.  The one point that interests me is that the shooter knew where to find Trump.  This was impressive, considering that Trump's decision to golf was a very last-minute thing.  This wasn't a long-planned rally or fundraiser.  It fell into the "Hey, I want to go golfing tomorrow" category...yet there the shooter (and I won't dignify the accused by naming him) still found him.  How?  Well, Dan Bongino, who used to be a Secret Service agent, thinks there may be a mole inside the DHS or Secret Service.

Trump Unloads on Democrats Over Second Assassination Attempt: 'The Enemy From Within'.  Former President Donald Trump spoke out on Monday about the second attempt on his life, and he did not mince words.  In a Fox News Digital exclusive, he blamed rhetoric coming from Democrats for inspiring the would-be assassin to try to kill him.  [Advertisement]  fThe former president spoke with Fox News Digital the morning after law enforcement apprehended the suspect, 58-year-old Ryan Wesley Routh. [...] The former president went on to say that Democrats incite violence "with a combination of rhetoric and lawsuits" and that "These are the things that dangerous fools, like the shooter, listen to — that is the rhetoric they listen to, and the same with the first [assassination attempt]."  Trump didn't stop there.  He took to X on Monday and savaged folks on the left for attempts on his life and indicated that they will incite even more violence.  [Tweet]

Did Ryan Routh have inside info on Trump's movements?  Ex-FBI official calls possibility 'scary'.  The alleged would-be assassin arrested for targeting Donald Trump while he golfed in Florida may have been given inside information about the former president's schedule, according to an ex-FBI official who called the possibility "scary."  Chris Swecker, a retired FBI assistant director, told Newsweek that the feds and other law enforcement will be probing how the suspect, Ryan Wesley Routh, 58, allegedly appeared to know Trump would be at his golf club in West Palm Beach, Fla., on Sunday.  "The biggest question to answer is: 'How did the would-be assassin know to be at that location at that time?'" said Swecker, who worked on FBI criminal investigations.

Caution:  CNN.
New apparent Trump assassination bid is another dark moment with unpredictable political consequences.  There's no political playbook for how to deal with another apparent assassination attempt against a major-party presidential candidate within weeks of an election.  Yet that's where the rival campaigns now find themselves after what looks like a second attempt to kill Republican nominee Donald Trump in the latest twist to a political season defying precedent and highlighting the nation's deep polarization.  Twice within two months, America has narrowly avoided the tragedy of seeing a major political figure assassinated during an election season — and the toxic forces that such an outrage could unleash in a country wracked by visceral partisan divides.

Man who appeared intent on killing Trump wrote a book urging Iran to assassinate the ex-president.  Ryan Wesley Routh portrayed himself online as a man who built housing for homeless people in Hawaii, tried to recruit fighters for Ukraine to defend itself against Russia, and described his support and then disdain for Donald Trump — even urging Iran to kill him.  "You are free to assassinate Trump," Routh wrote of Iran in an apparently self-published book in 2023, "Ukraine's Unwinnable War," which described the former president as a "fool" and "buffoon" for both the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot and the "tremendous blunder" of leaving the Iran nuclear deal.  Routh wrote that he once voted for Trump and must take part of the blame for the "child that we elected for our next president that ended up being brainless."

Would-be Trump assassin exploited security hole that Secret Service has known about for years.  The gunman who allegedly staked out former President Donald Trump's West Palm Beach golf course with an SKS rifle was able to exploit a security hole that the Secret Service has known about for years.  News photographers — including those hired by The [New York] Post — have had no problem repeatedly securing spots around the perimeter of the course to snap pictures of Trump playing golf or driving around in a golf cart.  They have even taken images — which require a clear line of sight to the 45th president — unnoticed through the bushes with telephoto lenses.  Some have gotten as close as 75 yards — without so much as a sideways glance from the Secret Service.

Trump's Second Would-Be Assassin Charged With... Firearm Offenses.  The second suspect accused of trying to take out former President Donald Trump at the Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach over the weekend has, so far, only been charged with firearm offenses.  [Advertisement]  58-year-old Ryan Wesley Routh, of Hawaii, the alleged would-be Trump assassin, was charged with possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and possession and receipt of a firearm with an obliterated serial number, according to a U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) press release.  [Tweet]

Guess How NBC Is Describing the Latest Assassination Attempt Against Trump.  Of all the media's spinning on the second assassination attempt of former President Donald Trump, the most atrocious examples to emerge so far may be from NBC News.  [Advertisement]  Last night, the outlet described the latest attempt to assassinate the 2024 Republican presidential nominee as the "Trump golf club incident." As of Monday morning, the NBC News article on alleged would-be assassin Ryan Routh's arrest remains the site's top trending story.  [Tweet]

Trump Assassination Suspect Donated 19 Times to Democrats.  The suspect apprehended for reportedly attempting to kill former President Donald Trump on Sunday has a history of donating to Democrat political campaigns.  Beginning in the 2020 election cycle in which ultimately Trump battled Joe Biden for the presidency, Ryan Routh of Hawaii made 19 donations to Democrats through ActBlue, the Democrats' fundraising platform, according to Federal Election Commission records reviewed by Breitbart News.  [Advertisement]  Routh's 19 donations were small — the largest only $25 to Beto for America, a political action committee supporting Beto O'Rourke's ill-fated presidential run — and totaled $144.40.  Those donations supported Democrat candidates as diverse as Elizabeth Warren, Andrew Yang, Tulsi Gabbard, and Tom Steyer.

Not Guarding Trump — A Deliberate Decision.  It is not my intention to write a primer on how to assassinate a world leader.  It is my express intention to make clear, limiting myself only to information well known to our adversaries, that this government is making a deliberate decision not to provide the resources necessary to protect Donald Trump against those who wish him dead.  To date, there have been two assassination attempts against Trump that have progressed to the point of being put into action.  In both cases, the individuals involved appear to have been unhinged loners with access to limited resources.  In both cases, Trump has come perilously close to being killed.  [Video clip]

Yes, It IS Incitement.  I have a very different take than Jazz's on what happened yesterday.  I have no doubt that it was an assassination attempt against Trump, and I also have no doubt that the Routh was incited to violence by the outrageous rhetoric deployed against Trump.  [Advertisement]  [Tweet with video clip]  There is lots of evidence coming out about Ryan Wesley Routh, who is obviously about as deranged as the average MSNBC viewer.  But among those things is his support for Biden/Harris (he has a Biden/Harris bumper sticker), his obsession with Ukraine, and his hatred for Donald Trump. [...] They push a series of hoaxes — the latest being the "bloodbath" hoax that makes it sound like Trump is calling for a civil war after the voting ends.  He is an "existential threat," we are told.  Is it any wonder that the more deranged part of their party believes them after nearly a decade of brainwashing?

GOP Rep. Burchett on Trump Assassination Attempt: 'The Left Has Just Ramped Up Their Vitriol'.  Sunday, following a reported second assassination attempt on Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, Rep. Tim Burchett (R-TN) placed the blame on the left for an increase in vitriolic rhetoric.  According to the Tennessee Republican, Democrats were inciting those who he described as "on the edge," and they knew "exactly what they were doing."  "[C]learly, we have got to be careful because the power of suggestion is what we're seeing right now," he said.  "The left has just ramped up their vitriol.  You've seen the tweets that y'all are saying something about 'they need to learn how to aim better' and things like that.  Those are the types of things that incite somebody who is on the edge.  They know exactly what they're doing.  This establishment, the swamp, whatever you want to call it, it's an open sewer.  They have thrown down the gantlet.  They know if Donald J. Trump is elected, their days are over.  We'll get this country back in order, and they will throw anything and everything at it."

MSNBC Guest:  Donald Trump Is 'Exactly Like Hitler'.  Reverend Dr. Jacqui Lewis said on MSNBC's broadcast of "The Saturday Show" that former President Donald Trump is "exactly like" Nazi leader Adolf Hitler.  Host Jonathan Capehart said, "Give me your response to what Donald Trump is doing?"  Lewis said, "It's outrageous but expected by an authoritarian who wants to take us to Nazi Germany.  We exploited racism, fascism to Nazi Germany.  We know how to do it."  [Advertisement]  She continued, "Let's not pretend that Donald Trump isn't exactly like Mussolini, exactly like Hitler, he is that guy.  I want to say something to the American people.  I live in a neighborhood, Jonathan.  You and I both have white partners.  I live in a nice mixed neighborhood with all kinds of people, including Republican people who are nice people, who shovel your grass, who care about the neighborhood, care about the world, right?  You nice people don't want this guy just because your economy worked better for five minutes under his regime.  You nice Christians, you kind, loving Jewish people, we're not these people.  We're not these people."

The Background on the Alleged Suspect in New Trump Assassination Attempt Is Something Else.  Fox News has reported that the alleged suspect in the second Trump assassination attempt is Ryan Wesley Routh, as we reported earlier.  He allegedly aimed a rifle through the fence on the golf course where Trump was.  He was about 300-500 yards away.  Law enforcement claimed he had an AK-47 with a scope and a Go-Pro camera at the fence.  He also had a bag with ceramic plates.  The Secret Service fired at him and he fled in a black SUV.  A citizen saw him and took a picture of his license which the citizen gave to police.  The suspect was later caught on the highway by the Martin County Sheriff's Office.  Sheriff William Snyder said the suspect was "calm" and not armed when he was stopped.  He is now in custody.

Adam Kinzinger, Vindmans, MSNBC Deliver Insane Responses to Second Trump Assassination Attempt.  As RedState reported, another attempt on Donald Trump's life occurred on Sunday, this time at his golf course in Florida.  Shots were fired after the Secret Service spotted the would-be assassin in a treeline and he was taken into custody.  [Advertisement]  Information was released nearly immediately, revealing Ryan Wesley Routh as the culprit.  His background shows dozens of donations to far-left Democrats and a penchant for posting that "democracy is on the ballot," a favorite rant of Kamala Harris and Joe Biden.  Given the gravity of the situation, some introspection on the left was warranted.  Instead, the equivocations and outright blaming of Trump came fast and hard.  One exchange on MSNBC called the attempted assassination "exceptionally unfortunate" not because the former president was nearly killed again, but because it might help him politically.  [Tweet]

Assassination Attempt No. 2.  In Friday's newsletter, I referred to the July 13 shooting of President Trump as the first assassination attempt.  On Sunday, a second attempt was made at his golf course at Mar-a-Lago.  Miranda Devine of the New York Post wrote, "An eagle-eyed Secret Service agent reportedly spotted the barrel of a gun in bushes a few hundred yards from where the former president was playing golf and shot at the would-be assassin, who was later arrested."  Eagle-eyed?  The agent shot and missed.  Sounds more like a bogey.  The suspect got away — leaving his rifle and other equipment behind just like Biden did when he ordered his military to abandon Afghanistan.  But the Australian journo nailed why the scumbag tried to do with his bullet box what Democrats no longer can do at the ballot box.  Democrats have demonized and dehumanized Trump in a manner not seen since the days of Lincoln.

Questions Swirl After Second Trump Assassination Attempt.  For the second time in three months there was an assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump.  "The FBI has responded to West Palm Beach Florida and is investigating what appears to be an attempted assassination of former President Trump," the FBI said in a statement Sunday afternoon.  "Authorities just acknowledged if President Trump was president, they'd do more to protect him," wrote Rep. Steve Scalise, who was shot by a gunman in 2017 when practicing with Republicans for the Congressional baseball game.  "This must change."  "There have been TWO attempts on Trump's life," added the House majority leader. "Secret Service must up their level of protection of him to their FULL capabilities — including expanding the perimeter."  [Tweet]

Beep Beep!  This time, the shooter lives to do some 'splainin'.  Do you wonder if he might get around to 'splainin' his role with the shady non-governmental orgs (NGOs) supported by the CIA who enabled his travels to Ukraine and his efforts there recruiting global mutts to fight for the Nazi-ish Azov Battalion?  Perhaps he might rat-out actual government officials who assisted him in his colorful misadventures?  As Ed Snowden remarked on "X", wannabe Trump assassin Ryan Routh has "something of an Oswald vibe" — meaning, well-groomed by the intel boys, to be used as required.  Perhaps we'll find out — if nothing fatal happens to befall Mr. Routh while in custody — how exactly he learned Mr. Trump would be on the links that afternoon?  The candidate's round of golf that day was supposedly a snap decision known only amongst his innermost circle.  Or how did Mr. Routh figure out the most advantageous fairway to lay at for a clear shot?  The FBI is on the case, you may be reassured to know.

Remember When Kamala Harris Joked About Killing Trump?  The attempted assassination of Donald Trump on Sunday afternoon in Florida, just nine weeks after a previous attempt in Butler, Pa., has reignited concerns about the violent and hateful rhetoric coming from the political left.  Mere days before Trump was shot in Butler, Joe Biden declared, "It's time to put Trump in the bullseye."  Of course, that's just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the violent rhetoric from the left.  For years, Biden and the Democratic Party have relentlessly compared Trump to Hitler, branding him a threat to democracy and a would-be dictator.  Such rhetoric has continued to this day.  Kamala Harris has been using incendiary rhetoric against Trump, just like Biden has.  In fact, she once openly joked about killing him.

David Frum:  Trump, Vance 'Want to Present Themselves as Near-Victims' After 2nd Assassination Attempt on Trump.  David Frum, a prominent "Never Trump" pundit and former speechwriter for President George W. Bush, claimed that former President Donald Trump and his running mate Sen. JD Vance (R-OH) "want to present themselves as near-victims of violence" following the second assassination attempt against Trump that transpired on Sunday.  "Trump and his running mate have spent the past week successfully inciting violence in Springfield, Ohio.  Today they want to present themselves as near-victims of violence — in this case, of violence completely unrelated to themselves and at a very safe distance from themselves," Frum wrote in a Sunday X post.

Trump golf course gunman's chilling social media posts surface.  The suspect who allegedly wanted to shoot Donald Trump has a rap sheet that includes a hours-long standoff and 'terrorist threats' and a social media post saying he can't wait until the former president is 'gone.'  Ryan Wesley Routh, 58, is in custody after aiming an AK-47 rifle barrel towards Trump when he was golfing at his course in West Palm Beach, Florida on Sunday.  The would-be shooter was convicted more than two decades ago with possessing a weapon of mass destruction, according to a more than two-decades old News & Record report.

Sheriff on Assassination Attempt:  Trump Would Have Had More Protection as Sitting President.  Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw told reporters Sunday evening that a gunman was able to gain access to former President Donald Trump's golf course at Mar-a-Lago because he had less security as a former president.  Bradshaw revealed details of the assassination attempt — the second on Trump in the past three months — which was foiled by the Secret Service when they saw a rifle poking through the fence of the next hole Trump was to have played.  [Video clip]

The Liberal Media Reaction to This Second Trump Assassination Attempt Is What You'd Expect.  It's an assassination attempt.  The FBI is on the case.  The suspect fled in a black Nissan, later apprehended by local law enforcement.  Former president Donald Trump was golfing at Trump International Golf Club West Palm Beach in Florida.  Secret Service agents doing a security sweep a couple of holes ahead of the president saw a barrel of a gun poking through the golf course's shrubbery and engaged the suspect.  An AK-style rifle with a scope was found, along with a GoPro, were found at the scene.  [Tweets]  Yet, the liberal media and their minions were right on cue with their horrific reactions to the assassination attempt, some blaming the Trump campaign for the heated rhetoric that, contrary to popular belief, is exclusively said by them.  [More tweets]

Democrat Dirtbag Called Trump Mussolini And Hitler On MSNBC Just Hours Before A Liberal Tried To Kill Him On The Golf Course.  Dem Party activist 'Rev. Dr. Jacqui Lewis' says that Donald Trump is 'exactly like Mussolini and Hitler,' calls him a 'fascist authoritarian weasel,' and claims that 'America created Nazi Germany.'  "It is outrageous, it's horrifying, but it's expected from a fascist authoritarian who wants to create havoc in this country, who wants to take us to Todd [sic] Nazi Germany.  We exported racism, fascism to Nazi Germany.  We exported it to South Africa.  Let's not pretend that Donald Trump isn't exactly like Mussolini, exactly like Hitler, he is that guy.  Under his regime, you nice Christian, kind, loving Jewish people won't want him.  We're not those people, and if we elect this fascist authoritarian weasel, we won't get what we want."  [Video clip]

Trump's Would-Be-Assassin Was Interviewed By Newsweek About Fighting In Ukraine.  Suspected would-be Trump assassin was previously interviewed by Newsweek Romania, and started crying during the interview as he begged people to "come fight."  Ryan Routh was arrested after an assassination attempt on Donald Trump.  In the video, Routh explained that he initially went to Ukraine to "fight" to support the Ukrainians.  [Video clip]

Trump thanks 'Patriots,' Secret Service for stopping assassination attempt by alleged gunman Ryan Routh.  Former President Donald Trump offered his thanks late Sunday night and said he was proud to be an American after Secret Service agents thwarted an AK-47-wielding suspect from shooting him dead in an assassination attempt at the Republican nominee's West Palm Beach golf course.  "I would like to thank everyone for your concern and well wishes — It was certainly an interesting day!" the former president posted on Truth Social.

Another Assassination Attempt On Trump?  No Surprise After Years Of Media Likening Him To Hitler.  The near-nonstop comparing of Donald Trump, a former president of the United States, to Adolf Hitler has almost become a mainstream media cliche.  So should anyone really be shocked someone else has again decided that Trump should take a bullet, just nine weeks after he was shot in the ear?  The answer, of course, is no. [...] Let's say right off the top that we don't yet know why someone again would want to assassinate Trump.  But it seems very likely, at bare minimum, that he (they?) had burning hatred for him.  And that hatred was likely stoked by relentless media attacks on Trump, in particular those likening him to Hitler.  It's become sickeningly common, though it's gone on now for over eight years.

DeSantis Takes Matters Into His Own Hands on Assassination Attempt.  In the wake of the assassination attempt on Donald Trump at the Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Gov. Ron DeSantis announced that Florida would conduct its own investigation.  For a second time in two months, a would-be assassin was able to get within shooting range of Trump. [...] DeSantis is not taking any chances with a second attempt on Trump's life in Florida. "The State of Florida will be conducting its own investigation regarding the attempted assassination at Trump International Golf Club," he posted on Twitter.  "The people deserve the truth about the would be assassin and how he was able to get within 500 yards of the former president and current GOP nominee."  Indeed, the 5th hole of the golf course, where Trump was reportedly putting, is mere feet away from the road, where there was apparently no security posted, enabling the shooter, Ryan Routh, to hide in the bushes.  [Tweet]

Alleged would-be Trump assassin echoed Harris, Biden's anti-Trump rhetoric as he backed Dem candidates.  The alleged gunman who authorities said targeted former President Donald Trump while he golfed in Florida on Sunday afternoon previously declared on social media that "Democracy is on the ballot" this year and "we cannot lose" — echoing the anti-Trump rhetoric used by Vice President Kamala Harris and President Biden.  Law enforcement sources identified the suspect as Ryan Wesley Routh, 58.  Routh, who has a lengthy criminal record from North Carolina, frequently posted about politics and exclusively donated to Democratic candidates and causes dating back to 2019.

Man in custody after Trump golf club incident was once convicted of possessing a machine gun.  The man in custody in connection with what is being described as a second attempt to assassinate former President Donald Trump was vocal about U.S. support for Ukraine and has a long criminal and civil court history, including a conviction for possessing a machine gun.  Ryan Wesley Routh, 58, was taken into custody after Secret Service agents fired shots at him at Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Sunday, three senior law enforcement sources said.  In 2002, court records show, he was convicted of possessing a weapon of mass destruction — a machine gun.  In that case, a man named Ryan Routh, 36 at the time, allegedly led authorities on a vehicle chase before he holed up at a roofing company in Greensboro, North Carolina, according to an account by the Greensboro News & Record.

Trump was almost the victim of a second assassination attempt.  It's not quite clear yet what happened at the Trump International Golf Course in West Palm Beach, Florida, but it seems certain now that someone with a rifle got way too near Donald Trump.  Trump is safe, but this whole thing is deeply disturbing, considering that it's been only two months since Trump avoided being assassinated thanks only to a head tilt and a hairsbreadth.  Moreover, the same Democrats who've cultivated anti-Trump hysteria are alternatively dismissively, celebratory, or, at MSNBC, blaming Trump.

The Would-Be Trump-Assassin Has Been Identified And He's A Far Left Wacko.  Ryan Wesley Routh has reportedly been identified as the man arrested for allegedly pointing an AK-47 at former President Donald Trump while he was golfing, according to law enforcement sources.  The former president, who successfully dodged a second assassination attempt this year after nearly being hit by a bullet in Pennsylvania, is reported to be 'safe' following the incident.  Known for publicly supporting left-wing causes and promoting his self-styled "do-gooder" image on social media, Routh's arrest has raised many questions.  [Video clip]

Suspect in Trump assassination attempt called former president a threat to democracy.  Ryan Wesley Routh, 58, has been identified as the man who was arrested in the assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump.  The suspect called Mr. Trump a threat to democracy.  According to authorities, he was spotted by Secret Service agents Sunday in the bushes outside Mr. Trump's golf course in West Palm Beach, Florida.  Officials said they found two backpacks, a GoPro camera and an AK-47 style rifle with a scope where Mr. Routh was hiding.  He fled in a black SUV but was located and detained after a witness gave police the vehicle tags.

Democrat House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries After Second Trump Assassination Attempt: 'We Must Stop' MAGA Republicans.  House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) took to X on Sunday to decry what he called "extreme MAGA Republicans," adding, "We must stop them."  Notably, Jeffries made this declaration an hour after former President Donald Trump survived a second assassination attempt.  "Extreme MAGA Republicans are the party of a national abortion ban and Trump's Project 2025," Jeffries said in an X post Sunday, adding, "We must stop them."  [Tweet]  The Democrat House Minority Leader expressed these sentiments an hour after President Trump's campaign announced that he was safe following gunfire transpiring in his vicinity.

Alleged would-be Trump assassin Ryan Routh donated exclusively to Democrats since 2019.  The Hawaii man suspected in former President Donald Trump's assassination attempt on Sunday is a long-time Democrat, donating exclusively to the party's candidates 19 times since 2019, records show.  Between September 2019 and March 2020, Ryan Routh contributed more than $140 on the Democratic fundraising platform ActBlue, Federal Election Commission (FEC) filings show.  The filings indicate he lived in Kaaawa, Hawaii, at the time of the donations.  The records indicate that he was "not employed."  While the money went to ActBlue, it was earmarked for individual 2020 Democratic presidential primary candidates including former Rep. Beto O'Rourk (D-Texas), Andrew Yang and Tom Steyer of New York and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (R-Mass.)

Reckless rhetoric from Dems and media to blame for second Trump assassination attempt.  Donald Trump was targeted Sunday in a second apparent assassination attempt in as many months.  An eagle-eyed Secret Service agent reportedly spotted the barrel of a gun in bushes a few hundred yards from where the former president was playing golf and shot at the would-be assassin, who was later arrested.  It's a frightening development that highlights the recklessness of the hateful rhetoric constantly aimed at Trump by his political opponents, even after he was shot at a rally in Pennsylvania in July.

Arrest him, too.
Son of alleged would-be assassin says his dad hates Trump like 'all reasonable people'.  The son of Ryan Wesley Routh, the man named as the suspect in a possible assassination attempt near Donald Trump's Florida golf club on Sunday, has said his father is not a violent person and did not even believe him to own a gun.  Wesley's son, Oran Routh, reached by DailyMail.com shortly after Sunday's shooting, said this was the first he'd heard of the alleged assassination attempt.  'This was the first I heard about it,' the 35-year-old exclusively told DailyMail.com.  'Was my father shot or injured?'  He said his father hates Trump as 'every reasonable person does.  'I don't like Trump either,' the son added.

New Details on Latest Assassination Attempt on Donald Trump.  Former President Donald Trump appears to have survived a second assassination attempt.  Shots were fired in West Palm Beach, Fla., just outside his golf course, prompting Secret Service agents to take Trump to safety "after agents opened fire on a man who was spotted with what may have been a gun while the former president was on the links, according to law enforcement sources."  "Officials believe the shots fired at Trump International Golf Club were intended for former President Donald Trump, according to sources familiar on the matter," CNN reported.

Would-be Trump assassin ID'd as Ryan Routh, 58, of Hawaii: sources.  Ryan Wesley Routh, 58, has been identified as the suspect who was arrested after allegedly pointing an AK-47 assault rifle at former President Trump while he golfed, according to law enforcement sources.  Routh frequently touted his do-gooder credentials and championed left-wing causes on social media. [...] Routh was spotted by Secret Service agents near the Trump International Golf Club West Palm Beach with an AK-47, according to sources.  The agents opened fire on him, but he fled.  Routh was later arrested on I-95 by local police.

We Now Know How the Gunman Targeted Trump at His Golf Course.  We're still awaiting more details about the latest assassination attempt on President Trump.  But it is now quite clear that Trump was the intended target, based on recent reporting about how the gun was positioned when it was shot.  According to the Associated Press, "A man with an AK-style rifle pointed the firearm's muzzle into Donald Trump's golf club in West Palm Beach, Florida, as the former president was playing a round, prompting the U.S. Secret Service to open fire, according to three law enforcement officials."

Trump Is Safe After Secret Service Fires at Potential Shooter.  The FBI said Sunday it was investigating "what appears to be an attempted assassination" of Donald Trump at his golf club in West Palm Beach, Florida, just nine weeks after the Republican presidential nominee survived another attempt on his life.  Trump said he was safe and well.  Fox News reported the suspect's name is Ryan Wesley Routh.  The U.S. Secret Service opened fire at a man pointing an AK-style rifle into the club as Trump was on the course, three law enforcement officials said.  The person dropped the weapon and fled in an SUV, and was later taken into custody in a neighboring county.  The officials were not authorized to discuss the ongoing investigation and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.

Donald Trump safe after shots fired outside Palm Beach Golf Club.  The suspect in the second assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump has been identified as Ryan Wesley Routh, law enforcement sources confirmed to Fox News.  Routh was allegedly armed with an assault rifle outside Trump International Golf Club while Trump was playing the fifth hole on Sunday afternoon.  He was able to push the muzzle of his gun through the chainlink fence outside the golf club, authorities said.  He was 300 to 500 yards away from Trump.  Secret Service spotted Routh and opened fire.  Routh was able to get way, but was later stopped by authorities and arrested.

Related incident
September 12, 2024.

Trump Supporters [were] Apparently Attacked At Rally With Clandestine Weapon.  At least 20 Trump supporters may have been attacked covertly by chemicals or a high-power laser at a Trump rally in Tucson on September 12.  Some victims suffered severe burns.  Many were temporarily blinded, with symptoms lasting until today.  Others may have been affected but have yet to be identified.  The fact that all those known to have been affected were sitting on the stage immediately adjacent to President Trump is important in understanding the significance of what happened.  The victims were all part of a "Latinos for Trump" group on the stage.  President Trump shook hands with them as he walked to the podium.  But what they believed was their good fortune soon turned into a nightmare when severe symptoms began to strike 30 minutes after the rally. [...] Experts believe the symptoms resulted either from a chemical agent or, more likely, from a high-powered infrared laser attack.  Thus, while chemicals were initially blamed, physicians and retired military experts experienced in chemical-biological-nuclear-directed energy warfare now believe it was an attack by an unseen infrared laser.

Was Trump Attacked With an Infrared Laser, Sending 20+ People to the ER?  Tinfoil hat time.  At an Arizona rally last week, around 20 attendees who were seated in bleachers behind and to the left of Donald Trump had to go to the emergency room after the event.  Most complained of pain and swelling in their eyes and even partial blindness. [...] I then looked into multiple sources regarding infrared laser weapons and it all jibed.  IF someone was positioned in front of and to the right of Trump and IF they had some sort of device that emitted infrared lasers, it's possible that the people behind Trump would have been hit.  The results would have been exactly what we're seeing reported... though not nearly reported enough since very few outside of The Gateway Pundit and a handful of others are touching the story.

Several Trump supporters seated on stage during Tucson rally experience eye injuries.  It's a mystery at a Donald Trump rally that left multiple people with eye injuries and few answers.  The News 4 Tucson Investigators spoke exclusively with six people who were seated on stage behind the former president during his rally in Tucson last week.  Three of them agreed to on camera interviews.  All of the people we spoke with experienced eye irritation and sought medical attention.

Trump supporters who sat onstage during Arizona rally suffering from mysterious eye injuries: 'It's unbearable'.  Multiple Donald Trump supporters claim they suffered a mysterious eye injury and were forced to seek medical attention over the "unbearable" pain after sitting behind the former president during his rally in Arizona.  Mayra Rodriguez was among Trump's most loyal backers seated in a confined portion of the right side of the stage behind the former president at Ronstadt Music Hall in Tucson on Sept. 12, KVOA reported.  Rodriguez claimed she started experiencing eye irritation when she exited the venue following the nearly 80-minute speech.

Donald Trump Rally Attendees Report Mystery Eye Problems.  Attendees to Donald Trump's rally in Arizona have reported sustaining mystery eye problems from the event.  The rally in Tucson, Arizona, on September 12, which drew over 2,000 people in 100 degree heat, resulted in a number of Trump supporters going to the emergency room.  The Trump campaign has said it is investigating the event.  The Secret Service told News 4 Tucson that it was unaware of anything out of the ordinary occurring at the rally.  It added that it was unaware of any planned threat to Trump in Arizona.

Making a House seat an inheritance.  The Rahm Emanuel Rule is simply "You never want a serious crisis to go to waste.  And what I mean by that is an opportunity to do things that you think you could not do before."  This is why the first action in Washington at 9/11 was to create a Department of Homeland Security complete with a Cabinet secretary who is 18th in the line of succession for president.  Hmm.  That seems like a disincentive to protect the lives of everyone ahead of him.  FJB was smart enough to appoint as his Homeland Security secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, who was born in Cuba and is ineligible to be president.  The serious crisis now is the assassination attempt on President Trump.  We are up to three known attempts and there may be five others.

Attempt #1
July 13, 2024.

Campaign Estimates More than 105,000 People Attended Trump's Return Rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.  Former President Donald Trump's campaign estimates more than 105,000 people attended Trump's return rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Saturday — just a few months after the 45th president narrowly survived an assassination attempt.  More than 105,000 supporters attended Trump's return rally in Butler, a campaign aide told Breitbart News.

Excerpts From President Trump's Historic Return to Butler Pennsylvania.  A few not-to-be-missed segments from President Trump's historic rally in Butler, Pennsylvania last night.  The Paramedic who treated President Trump after he was shot in a failed assassination attempt, was Sally Sheri.  Mrs. Sheri gave a remarkable speech outlining what she experienced while treating President Trump.  [Video clip]

5 Highlights From Trump Rally at Site of Attempted Assassination.  [#1] Trump Remembers Victim of First Butler Rally:  Trump honored Comperatore's wife, daughters, and sisters, who were at the second Butler rally Saturday evening [10/5/2024].  "Corey Comperatore was a incredible husband and father, a devout Christian, a veteran and a proud former fire chief, very respected within the town," Trump said. "Everybody knew him.  Few men volunteered to run into fires, but Corey was one of those who did.  He ran into fires.  I spoke to people that were with him that said this guy would do anything.  He was a brave, brave guy."  Trump called Comperatore a "protector" who sacrificed his life for his family.  "When the sound of gunshots pierced the air on that July evening, Corey leapt into the fire one more time.  In his last seconds of this earth, he threw himself on the top of his wife and daughters," Trump said.  "He didn't want them hurt.  And he was hit hard."  Every husband and father should hope they would behave like Comperatore if placed in the same situation, the former president said.

About the Secret Service Agents' free trip to LGBTQ conference at Disneyworld.  The Secret Service leadership finally admitted they did not assign the full complement of agents to Trump's detail in Butler, Pennsylvania.  Only a few were fully trained Protective Detail agents.  The rest of the squad came from the B-Team.  They usually spend their time chasing counterfeiters and credit card fraudsters.  The temps' protection training was watching a two-hour video.  That's less than a good movie and popcorn.  The Service doesn't have enough time or manpower to answer even the simplest questions the Congressional Committee asks.  USSS leadership claims they don't have enough money to complete their vital mission.  But they have the time, resources, and budget to solicit agents for the free four-day trip to what we Floridians call the Mouse House.  The story went public when the service's DEI office sent a memo to every assistant director asking them to nominate candidates for this fun-in-the-sun trip to Orlando.

It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad Fake Presidential Race.  [The Republicans] haven't managed to call a single one of the Secret Service agents who stood down completely in Butler, but these things take time.  They're still searching for photos of Thomas Matthew Crooks taken after he graduated from the eighth grade.  That makes sense; few of us have our pictures taken after middle school.  It's all downhill from there.  And their task won't be made easier by the fact that the Secret Service is unwilling to cooperate in any investigation.  Well, to be fair, any real investigation would make the Secret Service look really bad.  The Biden administration, Homeland Security, all of them, are urging the Secret Service not to comply with Congress.  What is Congress going to do if they don't? [...] And, in keeping with their appearance of upright honesty, the Secret Service is also rejecting Freedom of Information Act requests about the Butler incident.  Nothing evokes innocence better than that.  So we'll never find anything out.  If it was real, who was actually behind it?  Or if it was staged, as millions believe, why it was staged, and by who? [...] Why didn't Trump's Secret Service do their jobs?  Mere incompetence cannot explain that.  A volunteer group of elementary school safety patrols would have responded better.  So, if you believe it really happened or not, that is what should be investigated first.

Secret Service Knew of Trump Shooter 27 Minutes Before Shots Fired.  A U.S. Senate committee's report on Secret Service failures around the first Trump assassination attempt reveals that the Secret Service found out about Thomas Crooks' suspicious behavior almost half an hour before he shot the president and killed another man.  The injuries of Donald Trump and multiple rally attendees and the death of Corey Comperatore could all have been prevented had the Secret Service taken the report of a "suspicious person with a rangefinder around the AGR building approximately 27 minutes before the shooting" seriously, the bipartisan report demonstrates.  The incompetence, whether deliberate or accidental, of the Secret Service cost a life and changed American politics.  Now there needs to be major accountability for those responsible for this and other egregious failures at the Pennsylvania rally.  There are numerous noteworthy findings in the Senate Homeland Security Committee report, but I will list below a number that I found particularly disturbing and significant. [...]

Trump assassination attempt:  Inexperienced Secret Service agent flying drone called toll-free number for help.  A preliminary report on the July 13 assassination attempt on former President Trump from the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs ripped into newly revealed missteps that went into the Secret Service's planning and execution of security at the event during which a spectator was killed, two others were seriously wounded and the GOP candidate was struck on the ear.  Among the key failures, an agent inexperienced with drone equipment called a toll-free tech support hotline for help after a request ahead of time for additional unmanned assets was denied, according to a preliminary summary of findings made public Wednesday.  According to the committee, he had just an hour of informal training with the device.

[A] Secret Service agent made [a] strange call before Thomas Matthew Crooks attempted to assassinate Trump, report reveals.  A series of failures by the U.S. Secret Service ultimately allowed would-be assassin Thomas Matthew Crooks to successfully land a shot in Donald Trump's right ear, a new report reveals.  One troubling finding from the bipartisan Senate investigation was how technical issues downed Secret Service drones during the July 13 rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.  The agent responsible for overseeing the Counter Unmanned Aircraft Systems (C-UAS) called a toll free 888 tech support hotline 'to start troubleshooting with the company.'  There were no backups.  It took several hours to get the drones back up and running — and the agent responsible for the drone operations only had three months of experience with the equipment.

Who REALLY tried to kill Trump?  Nearly ten weeks have passed since Thomas Matthew Crooks came within inches of killing Donald Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania.  But it's strange how much we still don't know about the 20-year-old would-be assassin.  What, exactly, was his motive?  Did he act alone?  And why on earth did Secret Service and law-enforcement officers ignore the glaring warning signs and fail to stop Crooks firing off eight rounds on July 13, clipping Trump's ear, killing one spectator and badly wounding two others? [...] Experts remain baffled as to why the warehouse on to which Crooks climbed, with an assault weapon, was not included within the Secret Service's 'security perimeter' for the event, even though it was less than 150 yards from where Trump made his speech.  Worse still, agents and officers neglected to act despite at least three police alerts about Crooks's unusual behaviour — not to mention the large number of Trump supporters who had sounded the alarm about a dangerous-looking man scrambling around on a roof.  Last, but not least, nobody has yet adequately explained why the Secret Service sniper team, which had their guns trained on Crooks, waited for him to start shooting before firing back and killing him.

Lots of 'Coincidences' in Trump Assassination Attempts.  Newly consolidated details on Trump's Butler rally reveal a more sophisticated plot.  Jill Biden spontaneously decided to speak in Pittsburgh on July 13 at a small event, announced only a week prior.  Kamala Harris similarly joined a small event in Philadelphia the same day, confirmed as a speaker on July 10.  These last-minute additions to "The Schedule" diverted most of Trump's regular protective detail and breached longstanding White House and USSS security protocols.  Trump's tall, male USSS regulars were replaced by substantially shorter agents, many of whom were women, borrowed from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and whose training consisted of only a two-hour webinar.  One of these women cowered behind Trump as he was shot at by Crooks, positioned merely 130 yards away on the roof of building 6 (AGR 6) of the nearby AGR multi-building complex.  Butler security was a wreck.  The usual canine teams were missing, improper people were accessing backstage areas, and DHS officials failed to properly patrol the podium area or the "secure perimeter" near the AGR complex, a mistake repeated at Trump's golf course.

Further Bureau Intrigue.  Jeffrey Veltri, head of the FBI's Miami office and the lead agent probing the second attempt to assassinate Donald Trump, was ordered to take down anti-Trump social media posts.  The FBI counters that allegations about Veltri's political bias and social media posts are "demonstrably false," so based on experience they are probably true.  In July, the FBI failed to prevent the first attempt to kill Trump, which nearly succeeded.  Shortly afterward, FBI director Christopher Wray, never an FBI agent, and accompanied by no ballistics expert, contended that Trump might have been hit by "shrapnel."  That hardly inspired confidence in the FBI investigation, and the people have other grounds to be skeptical.

Mad to the Max.  [Scroll down]  Due to the possibility that sane citizens, despite calculated election fraud, might elect Mr. Trump, who opposes all that psychotic, criminal nonsense, the coalition of the permanent bureaucracy, the Democratic Party, and the news media appears to have few options left besides murdering Mr. Trump.  The first two would-be assassins show a train of association with the intel blob.  Thomas Crooks (or, at least one of his many cell phones) traveled repeatedly to a downtown DC building adjacent to the FBI HQ; Ryan Wesley Routh has alleged links to the Arlington, Va., Maximus Company, a CIA cut-out — perhaps explaining how the otherwise indigent Routh funded his global travels.  Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla) disclosed yesterday that the DHS knows of five assassination teams targeting President Trump, three connected with foreign governments, two domestic.

Secret Service claimed it was covering rooftop where gunman shot at Trump in Butler:  Whistleblower.  The Secret Service allegedly told local law enforcement that it would cover the rooftop where a gunman fired at former President Donald Trump during his July 13 rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, according to a new whistleblower account.  One of the local law enforcement officers involved in securing the Butler rally came forward as a whistleblower to a House GOP group investigating the assassination attempt.  "The Secret Service said they were covering that roof," Rep. Cory Mills, Florida Republican, told The Washington Times.

Secret Service Acting Director Ronald Rowe Gives Latest on Trump Assassination Attempt Investigation.  On Friday afternoon, Acting Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe did a press conference in order to update the public on the Secret Service internal investigation on the July 13 assassination attempt on former President and GOP nominee Donald Trump at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.  Rowe's comments were short, summarizing the facts and investigation findings that RedState has reported extensively.

Also posted under Friday document dumps.

Secret Service Reveals Failures That Led to First Trump Assassination Attempt.  Breakdowns in communication with local law enforcement impeded the Secret Service's ability to competently address the first attempt on former president Donald Trump's life at a Pennsylvania rally in July, according to a preliminary report released Friday.  Secret Service acting director Ronald Rowe, who replaced Kimberly Cheatle following her resignation due to fallout from the attempted assassination, laid the blame on complacent Secret Service agents, who he vowed would face unspecified consequences.  "While some members of the advance team were very diligent, there was complacency on the part of others that led to a breach of security protocols," Rowe said while announcing the findings.  The Secret Service head noted he could not detail personnel matters as the agency's investigation remains ongoing.

The Editor says...
You can safely wager that the investigation will be "ongoing" forever, if that's what it takes to avoid answering any questions.

Internal Secret Service Report on Trump Attempted Assassination Reveals More Failures.  A classified Secret Service report on the attempted assassination of Donald Trump reveals more fundamental security failures than previously known and why the Trump campaign was correct in questioning the level of his Secret Service protection before the Butler rally and for years prior to the event.  Congress received a closed-door briefing on the report, known as the "Mission Assurance investigation," on Thursday.  At that time, several members commented on the security failures of the Secret Service that day.  "I think the American people are going to be shocked, astonished, and appalled by what we will report to them about the failures by the Secret Service in this assassination attempt on the former president," Connecticut Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal told Fox News.  "But I think they also ought to be appalled and astonished by the failure of the Department of Homeland Security to be more forthcoming, to be as candid and frank, as it should be to them in terms of providing information."

Whistleblower — Lead Secret Service Agent on Day Trump Was Shot Was Promoted After Failing Key Exam.  Per Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO), a whistleblower claims that the lead Secret Service agent on the day that former President Donald Trump was shot in the head had been promoted even after she failed at least one key training exam.  Despite this exam failure, former and disgraced Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle promoted the agent.  The whistleblower says the agent in question is from the Pittsburgh office and was the advance agent that fateful day.  Hawley appeared on Fox News with Jesse Watters on Thursday.  [Tweet with video clip]

Whistleblower: Kimberly Cheatle reportedly promoted a female agent who failed a key exam.  Just three days ago, Melania Trump shared a video to social media, discussing her feelings since the attempted assassination of her husband and our president, in Butler, Pennsylvania on July 13th; from Melania's perspective, the "silence" in the aftermath feels "heavy," and there is "definitely" more to the story:  [Tweet with video clip]  Well, she was right over target, because according to Senator Josh Hawley, a reported whistleblower has come forward to allege that a female Secret Service agent who miserably failed "one or more" of her training exams at work, was promoted, and later handpicked by Kimberly Cheatle herself to "protect" President Trump in Butler.  [Tweet with video clip]  As you heard, this unidentified female agent was in charge of Trump's entire visit to Pennsylvania; a gal who is "known not to be a top quality agent."  I have a hard time believing this was merely the fallout of DEI in action, but instead lean toward believing this agent was part of a nefarious plot to get our president killed that day.

The Editor says...
If a high school football coach intentionally put the B-team on the field in order to lose the game, it would be front-page news and there would be riots in the streets.  This appears to be the same sort of situation, with infinitely higher stakes.

Bombshell Report:  Cover-Up and Disturbing Info About Agent in Charge During Assassination Attempt.  We continue to hear troubling things about the failures of security around the assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump.  The media may want to brush the incident to the side as ABC did during the debate, but even Democrats like Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) are troubled by what they are hearing.  After he was in a meeting with Acting Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe, he said that we would be shocked and appalled not only by what we will hear about Secret Service failures, but that we should also be appalled and astonished by the failure of the Department of Homeland Security to provide information.  He said that they were going to insist upon the truth and they would have a report soon on it all.  Now, there's another bombshell that was just delivered from Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) on Jesse Watters' show.  Hawley has been in contact with whistleblowers, and they told him that the lead Secret Service agent who had been in charge that day in Butler, Pennsylvania, failed one or more of her training exams and was "known not to be a top quality agent."  [Tweet]

Democrat Sen. Blumenthal Warns 'American People Will Be Shocked, Astonished and Appalled' by Report on Secret Service Failures in Trump Assassination Attempt.  Democrat Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) warned that the American public would be 'shocked, astonished, and appalled' by the level of incompetence and failure within the Secret Service surrounding the July 13, 2024, assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump. [...] Chilling texts, which were obtained by the New York Times from local law enforcement, detail the frantic communications of counter snipers.  One of the countersnipers sent a message to his colleagues indicating that his shift was ending.  At approximately 4:26 PM, he observed a suspicious individual — later identified as the assailant, 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks — sitting on a picnic table just 50 yards from the exit.

Senators 'appalled' by DHS failures, demand answers for lack of info on Trump assassination attempt.  Senators from both parties said Thursday that they were "appalled" by the security failures that led to the assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump July 13 and want more information from the Department of Homeland Security ahead of an expected report on the near-tragedy.  Members of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee met with acting Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe for a closed-door briefing about the shooting in Butler, Pa. that killed Trump rally-goer Corey Comperatore and wounded the 45th president and two others.  "I think the American people will be shocked, astonished and appalled by what we will report to them about the failures of the Secret Service in this assassination attempt of a former president," said Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), who chairs the panel's Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations.

Beating the Cheat.  The fate of the Basement President was already clear.  The historical wrong of 2020 was going to be righted, by the most definitive mean — the voters.  Then came the Butler shooting.  What the shooting did was put the seal on in the most stunning political comeback in the historical record.  With that attack, and in particular his undaunted response, Trump stepped from history into legend.  The image of Trump with his fist held high while the flag flaps above him is a vision for the ages.  This event will be recounted as long as there is a United States, and nothing can diminish it.  Trump is no longer an outcast.  He is a mythic figure.  He is the Little Tailor beating all comers, no matter how overwhelming or terrible.  He is Aeneas, Yojimbo, the Man with No Name, returned from exile scarred and battered but even more implacable on reaching his goal.  This performance by Trump is absolutely astonishing.  No other visible political figure could have pulled off anything to match it.  Targeted by virtually the entire American establishment, Trump has outlasted them all.

What we know about the Butler shooting, and what we don't.  Public discussion of the Butler, Pennsylvania assassination attempt on President Trump seems to be going nowhere, with the press asking all the wrong questions and taking the existing media narrative for granted despite having no evidence to corroborate it, even after repeated corrections and enough false statements from official sources that they should have no credibility left.  But they do.  Accused would-be assassin Thomas Crooks came in a van, Crooks came in a car, Crooks came on a bike with a giant ladder.  Wait, the giant ladder was Secret Service's and he had a smaller one.  Wait, Secret Service climbed up on a pallet and Crooks on an A/C box, and he pulled himself up with the plumbing.  Wait, the plumbing was electrical conduit, made of PVC, which cannot support a man's weight.  But he climbed it anyway, because "Spa Guy" flew a drone overhead and saw fingerprints, days later, still visible after FBI scrubbed the crime scene.

Whistleblowers claim that they were 'woefully unprepared' to provide security.  Whistleblowers have told Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., that Secret Service personnel are "woefully unprepared" and given inadequate training to properly protect candidates — including former President Trump — in new claims regarding the assassination attempt against the Republican presidential nominee.  Hawley appeared on "Jesse Watters Primetime" Tuesday night to reveal whistleblowers' claims that when Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) agents were reassigned to work on the protective details, they were given a single two-hour webinar on Microsoft Teams.  The videos were pre-recorded, with whistleblowers allegedly saying that the videos were riddled with technical mishaps.

The Editor says...
It sounds like their defense has resorted to, "See?  There's no conspiracy here.  We're just incompetent!

Secret Service's Office of Equity Diversity and Inclusion Request Agents Attend LGBTQ+ "Out and Equal" Workplace Summit at Disney World Amid Shortage of Personnel.  The Secret Service's Office of Equity Diversity and Inclusion sent out an agency-wide request for agents to attend an all-expense paid trip to an LGBTQ+ "Out and Equal" Workplace Summit at Disney World in Orlando October 7-10.  This comes as the Secret Service is spread thin and struggling to meet demands.  Things are so bad that the US military is being called in to supplement Secret Service personnel.  Senator Josh Hawley revealed that Homeland Security agents working Trump's Butler rally received only "webinar" training beforehand.

Another avoidable "coincidence."
Whistleblower: Most Agents on Trump's Protective Detail on July 13 Were DHS Personnel Trained Via 2-Hour Webinar.  Most of the agents on former President Trump's protective detail during his Butler, Pennsylvania, rally on July 13 were Homeland Security personnel who had little protective training, according to Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.).  Hawley told Fox News' Jesse Watters Tuesday night that he had been informed by a whistleblower that the day Trump was almost assassinated, he was mostly guarded by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) agents who had only received a short and glitchy online training session before the rally.

Congressional report on Trump assassination attempt reveals 'who really took the first shot at Thomas Crooks'.  A bombshell congressional report claims would-be Trump assassin Thomas Crooks was incapacitated by a local cop before he was killed by a Secret Service sniper.  Two months after Crooks shot the former president's ear at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, a preliminary report from Rep. Clay Higgins offered a differing narrative to the official one pushed by the FBI.  While it was initially claimed that Crooks was shot in the head within seconds by a Secret Service sniper, Higgins' report claimed it was actually a local SWAT operator who stopped the gunman's hail of bullets.

Did a Lone 20-Year-Old Assassin Outsmart the Secret Service, Pennsylvania State Police, and Butler Law Enforcement?  Every day, more information comes out arguing against the government narrative that a "lone wolf" attack lies behind the assassination attempt against President Donald Trump.  The Biden Administration's feeble attempts through surrogates to deflect and deny have become standard and boring. [...] Shortly after the shooting, a video surfaced showing a Canadian sniper unhesitatingly saying that the assassin did not act alone.  Former Secret Service Agent Christopher McClenic said it's "impossible" that Trump's security detail wouldn't have noticed the rooftop from which the gunman fired.  He also said agents would have conducted walkthroughs before Saturday's event, during which they would have stood at the podium location and looked for rooftops or other areas of concern.

Rep. Steube criticizes Congress's slow pace getting answers on attempted Trump assassination.  Rep. Greg Steube, R-Fla., slammed Congress's slow pace in getting more answers on the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump.  "There's been a task force that's been appointed, but you haven't heard much from that task force, and we haven't been in Washington for them to have meetings," Steube said on the Friday edition of the "Just the News, No Noise" TV show.  The House of Representatives established a task force to investigate the shooting in Butler, Pennsylvania, last month.  The task force consists of seven Republican and six Democratic members.  Steube said bits and pieces of information are coming out about the attempted assassination, but nothing major.  "Why don't we know the names of the people there?" he asked.  "Why haven't the officers that were on the ground that day been deposed under oath and asked them very tough questions?"

Trump assassination investigation:  Congress doesn't need the FBI.  Two things are becoming abundantly clear regarding the "investigation" into the attempted assassination of former president Donald Trump.  First, nobody trusts the FBI.  Secondly, everybody is complaining that the FBI is stonewalling and withholding information about the alleged shooter, and therefore, the entire sordid event is quickly turning into a Kennedy assassination — like conspiracy.  In other words, nobody trusts the FBI.  Oddly enough, the biggest complainers are sitting on the singular investigative body that has the greatest ability to get information but hasn't utilized its power.  The House Bipartisan Task Force on the Attempted Assassination of Former President Donald Trump has the ability to obtain crucial physical evidence, without the FBI's permission, and remarkably has failed to act.  If the FBI doesn't want to play fair, there are other useful tools.

Inciting Violence:  Whatever the motivations of the attempted assassin of Trump, still undisclosed by the FBI, it has taken that attempt to focus greater public scrutiny on calls for violence from the Left.  Let's remind ourselves of just a few of the many examples:
  •   Obama declaring if they bring a knife, we bring a gun
  •   Madonna saying she'd thought a lot about blowing up the White House (when Trump was in it)
  •   Kathy Griffin infamously holding up a depiction of Trump's bloody, severed head
  •   Shakespeare-in-the-Park portraying Julius Caesar's assassination with a Trump look-alike
  •   Biden saying he'd like to take Trump behind the gym and "beat the [...] out of him"
  •   Schumer threatening the Supreme Court: "...you will pay the price.  You will not know what hit you..."
  •   Kamala Harris saying of the violent 2021 riots that they were justified and that they should continue: "they're not gonna let up, and they should not."
  •   Rep. Maxine Waters declaring about Trump administration officials:  "push back on them and tell them they are not welcome anymore, anywhere," that one should "absolute harass them," and that "I will go and take Trump out tonight."
  •   Madame Speaker Pelosi saying "I just don't know why there aren't uprisings all over the country." [...]
  •   Democrat Rep. Dan Goldman saying Trump should be "eliminated."

U.S. Attorney Forms Grand Jury, Mulls Charges In Connection With Trump Assassination Attempt.  The U.S. Attorney in the Western District of Pennsylvania has empaneled a grand jury to investigate the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump on July 13, which killed retired firefighter Corey Comperatore and wounded three others, including Trump.  According to a report from Human Events, a records request from America First Legal was denied because the records in question are "within the scope of a grand jury subpoena."  The letter, which was penned by the Community College of Allegheny County in response to attorney Wally Zimolong, denied a request for deceased gunman Thomas Matthew-Crooks' records pertaining to his student files, records, documents, communication, disciplinary records, or other data containing his name.

FBI, Secret Service Are 'Stonewalling' Trump Assassination Probe, GOP Senator Says.  Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI) — who is assisting with a bipartisan Senate investigation into the July 13 assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump — told Fox News that the FBI and Secret Service are "slow walking" the investigation.  "All I can really tell you is the Secret Service and the FBI are basically dragging their feet.  They're stonewalling us," Johnson told Fox News host Maria Bartiromo.  "We've gotten some transcribed interviews, but the documents we request are heavily redacted.  They're delivered you know, the day of the interview, so we really can't use the documents to conduct the interviews effectively.  So, we're not getting squat from my standpoint from the Secret Service or FBI," he continued.  "We've requested all of their 302's, their transcriptions of their interviews with hundreds of individuals.  They're not turning those over to us as well."

Secret Service Snipers [are] NOT on List of Agents to be Interviewed by Trump Shooting Task Force.  The House Task Force investigating the Trump assassination attempt wrote to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on Wednesday, seeking to interview Secret Service agents involved in the deadly July 13 campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.  In a letter to Mayorkas, Task Force Chairman Mike Kelly, R-Pa., and ranking member Jason Crow, D-Co., asked to start interviewing officials such as Secret Service Pittsburgh boss Timothy Burke, the local field office site agent for the July 13 rally, and the lead advance agent.  However, the Secret Service snipers from July 13 are not included on the list of agents that Kelly and Crow want to interview.  Their letter asks to interview the agent "responsible" for "counter sniper capabilities."  However, the letter indicates that would be the official who oversaw the policies, procedures and plans for the snipers to attend the rally — and not the snipers themselves.

FBI: Butler shooter's motive unclear, but he definitely wasn't politically motivated.  New and emerging photos and details from the near-assassination of President Donald Trump don't really make any sense, until you accept that the FBI is hopelessly corrupt; I've said this before and I'll continue to say it, but the bureau is operating completely outside the authority delegated to the federal government by the Constitution, and the only lawful remedy is its complete abolition. [...] So, after an "exhaustive" search through Crooks's entire life, the "elite" investigative law enforcement agency doesn't really have a clear motive, but they know he definitely wasn't motivated by a "specific political ideology."  That explanation only makes sense if you're blind and can't see the facts, or if you're deliberately ignoring what direction they're pointing.

Trump Assassination Attempt:  FBI Shows Photos of Shooter's Gun, Explosives.  The FBI released more details about Thomas Crooks, the man who shot Donald Trump, killed Corey Comperatore, and injured James Copenhaver, 74, and David Dutch, 57.  The agency showed pictures of the shooter's firearm and explosives in his car trunk.  The last picture is the AC unit the shooter used to access the roof.  But still, no motive, even though the agency said a search of the shooter's "online search history, as well as his specific online activity, has provided us valuable insight into his mindset."  "At this time, the FBI has not identified a motive nor any co-conspirators or associates of Crooks with advance knowledge of the attack," said Robert Wells, executive assistant director of the FBI's National Security Branch.  "And I want to be clear:  We have not seen any indication to suggest Crooks was directed by a foreign entity to conduct the attack.  As always, we will continue to follow all logical investigative steps in this ongoing investigation and have not ruled anything out at this time."

What Is Secret Service Hiding About the Trump Assassination Attempt?  It's been six weeks since the attempt on former President Donald Trump's life at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, and the American public's questions about the nature of the attack and the security failings that led to Trump's brush with death largely remain unanswered.  Jason Chaffetz, a Fox News contributor and former Utah congressman who once chaired the House Oversight Committee, joined "The Daily Signal Podcast" to discuss the apparent security failures and ongoing investigations into what transpired in Butler on July 13.  "I thought the extraction was very slow.  I thought it was fairly pathetic," Chaffetz told The Daily Signal.  "It's been illuminated more now that even though he was the Republican nominee, even though he was the former president, he wasn't getting the full protective detail that a sitting president would get.  And I have a problem with that."

Jesse Watters:  Who's Paying for the Crooks Family's High-Powered Attorneys?  Jesse Watters continued his investigation on the July 13th attempted assassination of President Donald Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania.  The rest of the mainstream media has moved on from the story of the year — the shooting of President Trump on stage at a MAGA rally in Pennsylvania and murder of Trump supporter Corey Comperatore in the crowd that day.  On Monday, Jesse pointed out that the family has somehow retained high powered attorneys to defend them following the attempted assassination of the former president and leading presidential candidates.  Also, Jesse asked his audience why the Secret Service told agents not to request extra manpower for the rally.  Why was that?

This Was Not a Lone Wolf! Feds Stonewalling And Covering Up.  This report breaks down all the latest developments in the investigation into the attempt on Donald Trump's life and reveals what new information we are learning, as well as how the feds are stonewalling investigative efforts and covering things up.  [Video clip]

Is the Secret Service covering up information about the Trump assassination attempt?  While Secret Service agents were applauded for bravely swarming the stage to protect Trump, the incident represented one of the worst security failures in American history.  Following the shooting on July 13 — which claimed the life of firefighter Corey Comperatore — Congress set up a bipartisan taskforce to investigate.  As questions mounted, Secret Service chief Kimberly Cheatle was forced to resign.  But in the wake of her departure, much remains unclear about how Crooks was able to launch the attack or what motivated him to target the Republican presidential candidate.  Several congressman, including Mike Waltz and Clay Higgins, have suggested that a third-party must have been involved, Higgins goes as far as to claim the FBI has engaged in a cover up.  Meanwhile, the mainstream view of the Washington commentariat appears to be that Crooks was acting as a 'lone wolf.'

SWAT Counter-Sniper Questions 'Odd' Pattern of Evidence-Handling.  It may be months before we know the whole story behind the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.  It may be years.  We may never know.  (Sadly, my money's on the latter.) There are times when the "public's right to know" just seems to slip through our fingers, and this may well be one of those times.  We can hope not — but there are murmurings now of evidence tampering.  That last is a big, serious assertion — but on Monday, a SWAT counter-sniper who was on the scene testified at a panel discussion held by five Republican members of Congress about an "odd pattern" of evidence handling.

Father of Trump shooter Thomas Matthew Crooks hires powerhouse criminal lawyer as FBI intensifies investigation.  The parents of Trump shooter Thomas Crooks have hired a team of powerhouse attorneys as the FBI continues to investigate just how much they knew ahead of their son's assassination attempt on the former president, DailyMail.com can exclusively reveal.  The development comes as one family member shared with DailyMail.com that the FBI, 'still very much has questions' regarding how much the killer's parents knew — while revealing that his father Matthew Crooks, 53, is a gun enthusiast who has sold firearms to relatives in the past.  Speaking to DailyMail.com, the family member who asked not to be named said, 'The FBI still very much has questions about how much they knew and how he [Thomas] slipped through the net.'

Alleghany County Medical Examiner Lab Director Pushes Back Against Request to Release Thomas Crooks' Autopsy Records.  The Alleghany County medical examiner lab director pushed back against a reporter's repeated requests to obtain Thomas Crooks' autopsy records.  As AbleChild reported:  The Butler County Coroner is not a medical examiner and cannot conduct an autopsy.  Therefore, the alleged shooter's body was shipped to the Allegheny County Medical Examiner to perform the autopsy. [...] The FBI left Crooks' deceased body on the roof of the AGR building overnight before the Butler County Coroner showed up early in the morning to make identification of the body.  The FBI also sprayed the roof to get rid of biological evidence from where Crooks was shot dead.  [Tweets]  Thomas Matthew Crooks' body was then released from the Allegheny County Medical Examiner to the Crooks family for cremation ten days after the attempted assassination of Trump.  The Alleghany County Medical Examiner lab director pushed back on a reporter's ongoing appeal seeking to obtain autopsy records for Thomas Crooks.

Whistleblower Reveals Shocking Detail About Butler, PA Trump Rally.  When it comes to the assassination attempt against former and potentially future President Donald Trump on July 13, Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) has been sharing details from whistleblowers about the incident, with more chilling details still coming out.  As he revealed in a letter sent to Acting Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe, a whistleblower "alleges that officials at Secret Service headquarters encouraged agents in charge of the trip not to request any additional security assets in its formal manpower request--effectively denying these assets through informal means."  Not only is such information particularly damning to the U.S. Secret Service (USSS) and how they have been handling the attempt on Trump's life, it also contradicts what Rowe previously told Congress.  "You must explain this apparent contradiction immediately," Hawley also wrote, after pointing out that Rowe "repeatedly suggested that no security assets had been denied for the Butler event."  Rowe, as Hawley pointed out, even claimed that he had been "very transparent and forthcoming."

Secret Service Never Picked Up Radios Set Aside For Them by Local Law Enforcement at Trump's Butler Rally.  Another 'coincidental' Secret Service failure that led to the attempted assassination of President Trump.  The Secret Service never picked up radios that were set aside for them by local law Butler County law enforcement at Trump's rally on July 13. Would-be assassin Thomas Crooks was able to climb on top of a roof next to Trump's Butler, Pennsylvania rally and put Trump in his scope.

Secret Service Headquarters Ordered Agents NOT to Request Additional Manpower for Trump Rally Where He Was Almost Assassinated.  The more information that leaks out regarding the Trump rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, the worse it looks for the Secret Service.  Senator Josh Hawley on Friday obtained more damning information from a Secret Service whistleblower that the agency headquarters specifically ordered agents not to request any additional manpower for the event because such requests would be denied on the spot.  It's almost as if the Secret Service senior staffers wanted President Trump dead and buried.  How can he place any trust in the agency going forward?  [Tweet]

The Editor says...
Indeed, "it's almost as if" the plot goes all the way to the top of the Secret Service, if not the entire "Biden" administration.

It Was a Local Cop Who Stopped Crooks in Butler.  You would think this would have created blaring headlines, given the numerous oddities and controversies surrounding the assassination attempt on Trump.  But no, it's not a big deal at all that the Secret Service didn't thwart the assassination on Trump.  It was a local cop who stopped the shooting and disabled the weapon of Thomas Matthew Crooks.  [Tweet]  Odd, that.  The "experts" in doing personal protection for the highest-value targets in the world once again were two steps behind local law enforcement when it comes to protecting the once and future President of the United States.  Weird, as the Democrats would say.  In any normal world this would be implausible, but we live in a world where the Secretary of Homeland Security and the Director of the Secret Service are remarkably uninterested in doing their jobs if they don't like what that entails.

Secret Service Agents Placed on Leave After Trump Assassination Attempt.  Three weeks ago, Acting Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe angrily pushed back on senators' calls to immediately fire or discipline key agents directly responsible for the security failures that led to the assassination attempt against former President Trump at last month's campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.  Since that time, Secret Service leaders have placed several members of the Pittsburgh Field Office on administrative leave, according to three sources in the Secret Service community.   (Administrative leave occurs when a federal employee temporarily leaves their position and work duties — either because of a misconduct investigation or medical or mental health issue.  These employees usually still receive pay and benefits, but those decisions are left to the discretion of agency leadership.)  While these members of the Pittsburgh Field Office were placed on leave, a different set of agents, several assigned to Trump's permanent protective detail, are still on the job providing Trump protection, the sources say.  They remain operational even though they too were deeply involved in devising the Butler rally's security plan.

The Editor says...
In other words, nobody has been fired, even though all of the incompetent (or worse!) agents were involved in this fiasco, one way or another.  It sounds like "administrative leave" is the same as unearned vacation time.

Related news:
Trump Abruptly Ends NewsNation Interview Due to Security Threat.  Former president Donald Trump abruptly ended an interview with NewsNation Thursday [8/22/2024] after his security team alerted him to possible danger.  This is the latest security threat against Trump as he runs for president for a third time.  "Can I tell you something?  We're in danger standing here talking," Trump said to NewsNation reporter Ali Bradley mid-interview, the network reported.  "So let's not talk any longer."  [Video clip]

Officials Did Not Tell Trump About the Manhunt for a Potential Assassin.  President Trump visited the border in Arizona today [8/22/2024], where he found out from a reporter that 66-year-old sex offender Ronald Lee Syrvud threatened to kill him.  He didn't know there was a manhunt for the man.  Trump was told his visit was dangerous, and there was a suggestion that some didn't want him to visit the border.  He didn't know about the specific threat.  He suggested they might want to hide it from him.

Republicans Concerned Trump Assassin Used Encrypted Messaging Accounts.  It started with Senator Lindsey Graham previously saying that perhaps electronic encryption programs needed a legislative ban as an outcome of the Trump assassination attempt.  The "never let a crisis go to waste" narrative continues advancing today with Congressman Mike Waltz. [...] The Deep State loves unilateral transparency where We The People are transparent, and they remain opaque.  Sorry, but look where we are now.  We never should have agreed to start taking off our shoes at the airport.

Watchdog Group Says FBI is Hiding Records on Trump Assassination Attempt.  A leading watchdog group says the FBI is hiding records relating to its coordination with the Secret Service for the rally during which an assassin tried to kill Donald Trump.  The FBI cited FOIA exemption 7(A) to protect ongoing enforcement proceedings surrounding the incident on July 13 in Butler, PA, when gunman Thomas Crooks was able to shoot at Trump despite being spotted behaving suspiciously hours beforehand.  Judicial Watch sent an FOIA request on July 26th asking the FBI to produce all relevant documents pertaining to its preparation and coordination with the Secret Service for Trump's rally.  However, the group has been stonewalled by the FBI, leaving questions as to why there was seemingly a delay in taking out Crooks before the shooting unanswered.

Ten Techniques Marxists Have Deployed to Gain Influence.  [#6] Disinformation and obfuscation:  This may take the form of outright institutional lying, a norm in the erstwhile U.S.S.R.  It has become a prominent feature of American institutions.  After the assassination attempt on Trump, missteps in planning, communication, staffing, and reconnaissance were covered up with lies.  Secret Service director Kimberly Cheatle claimed that the building used by the shooter wasn't secured because it had a dangerous "sloped roof," which the shooter could nevertheless scale and repeatedly fire from.  Witnesses saw the shooter and asked law enforcers to act, but agents later claimed they weren't able to eliminate the threat in time.

USSS Counter Snipers Did Not Stop Assassin Crooks, Butler SWAT Did — Also, FBI Quickly and Quietly Released Body for Cremation.  Representative Clay Higgins is a member of the congressional investigative task force looking into the assassination attempt by Thomas Matthew Crooks against President Trump.  Rep Higgins was also doing independent research prior to his appointment to the congressional committee, and he released his preliminary report findings today [8/16/2024].  There are some remarkable revelations in the 6-page pdf.  One detail outlines how it was a Butler County SWAT officer who fired the initial shot that stopped Matthew Crooks after 8 shots fired.  The Feds did not initially stop the assassin, the locals did.  Another detail highlights how the Butler County coroner was not aware the FBI quickly released the body of Crooks for immediate cremation.

The U.S. Secret Service Has Collapsed as an Organization, Just Like the FBI Before it — Stunning Example Follows.  I have been following Susan Crabtree's exceptional and granular research of the United States Secret Service.  Mrs. Crabtree is dialed in and watching every move with active and intellectual interest.  As a result, she is getting information from within the USSS about events happening in real time.  The latest revelation as shared by Susan Crabtree is stunning.  [Text from a Tweet follows — but the Tweet itself appears to be (ahem) unavailable now.]

Butler County resident's footage seized after Trump Rally shooting; authorities investigate possible second shooter.  Butler County resident Dayve Stewart was thrust into a major investigation after witnessing pivotal events before, during, and after a shooting at a Donald Trump rally.  Stewart, stationed along the perimeter fence line, captured video footage that he insists could shed light on several unusual occurrences that transpired that day.  However, authorities confiscated his footage, leading to his detainment and subsequent interrogation, which brought to light several shocking details.  Stewart told the police that the day started like any other rally, with the usual crowds of supporters and heightened security measures.  However, things turned disturbing when he noticed a visibly agitated man.  The man reportedly approached the fence line multiple times, where Stewart was standing, and began making threats to bystanders.  Stewart told authorities he was really on edge, pacing back and forth.  He kept telling people they were trespassing and that they needed to leave.  But it was strange because he didn't seem like security or anything official — just a regular guy.

New Bodycam Footage Shows Butler Cops Screaming And Cursing At Secret Service For Ignoring Their Calls To Get Crooks On The Roof.  Newly released bodycam footage from the Butler, PA rally shows police officers losing it, slamming the Secret Service for ignoring their requests.  [Video clip]

Amazon's Alexa Claims Trump Was Never Shot.  Alexa is part of the Google and Meta clown show that claim Trump's assassination never happened.  [Video clip]

There are a lot of unanswered questions about the Trump assassination attempt.  This video begs even more questions using "ping" locations based on cell phone data.  My greatest question has [its] origins in the fact that the media is intentionally [quiet] about such a historic event as the assassination of a past president and a current presidential candidate.  The void in the news cycle screams volumes to me.  Imagine if the attempt had been any other president in our lifetime but Trump (i.e.  Bill Clinton mid-nineties comes to mind).  [Video clip]

Of course they tried to kill Trump.  [Scroll down]  And of course, the shooter was put down immediately — right after he fired eight rounds.  They even sent a Secret Service agent to that roof to make certain he was dead before anyone could possibly talk to him.  Uniformed law enforcement is swarming the area and this lone guy in a suit is the first and only one to reach the body of the shooter!  Call me a cynic but if he wasn't dead before, he would have been before anyone else could reach him.  No loose ends, you know.  Little old ladies who watch NCIS reruns would have had that rooftop covered, but not the supposed premier law enforcement agency in the land.  Little old ladies would have had snipers on the water tower.  Little old ladies wouldn't have let Trump take the stage when it was known beyond a doubt there was a person with a rifle out there hunting for him.  Instead, none of that happened.  Instead, snipers were placed in the same building as the assassin but placed where they couldn't see the rooftop where the assassin took his shot.  All just a coincidence?

The Shot Ignored Around the World:  It's Been One Month Since Trump Was Shot.  It's been exactly one month since a smelly, pimply-faced incel's bullet narrowly missed President Trump's face.  Bleeding and defiant, Trump rose moments after the bullet struck his ear, shook his fist in the air, and yelled, "FIGHT, FIGHT, FIGHT" like the boss that he is.  But the shooting seems like ancient history now because the mockingbird media mudpuppies running most of our news outlets have decided that the story was bad for their bolshie business because it shows that Trump has a pair of brass stones and is a true leader.  So the lefty press decided to memory-hole the shooting and uniformly stop showing the iconic photograph of Trump rising, with blood spattered on his face, which I was only too happy to post here.  Some media mental bellyflops were so scared that the shooting was going to help Trump that they actually suggested that the shooting was staged.  These are the same news jobbies that blatantly lied about Russia collusion, Hunter's laptop, "cheap fake" videos, and all of these whoppers.

This is not entirely off-topic:
A Secret Service agent's breastfeeding emergency took her away from guarding Trump.  I'm one of those who finds it hard to believe that the Secret Service's endless failures on July 13 in Butler, Pennsylvania, were merely accidents that, equally accidentally, paved the way for someone to come within a whisker of assassinating President Trump.  That much incompetence seems purposeful, not accidental.  On the other hand, the story of the Secret Service agent who vanished from guarding President Trump so that she could breastfeed her baby does indicate a level of incompetence so over-the-top that DEI obsessions really could explain what happened in Butler.  Susan Crabtree, a RealClearPolitics reporter, broke the story, the short version of which is that five minutes before Trump was to arrive at a venue, a Secret Service agent snuck two of her family members into a special safe area, where she settled down to breastfeed her baby.  [Tweet]

The Butler Body Cam Footage.  Police body cam footage from July 13th was released late last week to little response, and has largely remained under the radar in the days since. [...] Simply put, it tells us that chaos was queen on July 13th.  Following the shooting, there is absolutely no sign of planning, procedure, or even simple competence among the law enforcement personnel present.  Evidently, fate simply grabbed a bucketful of dull-normals and sprinkled them over the rally site.  For the first few minutes, cops from several forces are milling around next to the building used by the shooter asking questions and getting no rational answers.  There is some speculation on how to clamber up to the roof with no action taken.

Former FBI Agent Reveals Suspicious Links Between Failed Trump Assassins And FBI.  There are still way too many unanswered questions about the Butler, Pennsylvania, assassination attempt against Trump.  But now, more information is coming out about a second would-be assassin.  This time, it was a Pakistani man who was arrested after allegedly plotting with Iran.  But FBI whistleblower and former agent Steve Friend tells Glenn that everything about this story — and the Pennsylvania attempt — points to FBI grooming.  Is the FBI influencing potential assassins just to arrest them and ask Congress for more money?  Steve Friend also weighs in on the story of Secret Service agents who broke into a salon during a Kamala Harris event.  [Video clip, transcript.]

How are Ukraine Stakeholders, CIA and U.S. Intelligence Community Going to Stop Donald Trump?
  •   To stop him in 2022, Joe Biden (through AG Garland) appointed a special prosecutor (smith) to investigate, indict and convict him.  Have you forgotten?
  •   To stop him in 2023, the FBI and DOJ raided his home.  Indicted him under claims of "national security," then began to use Lawfare in the court system against him.  Have you forgotten?
  •   To stop him in 2024, the U.S. Secret Service permitted a 20-year-old with a backpack, range finder, drone and long rifle, to walk into a Trump rally, set up position on a rooftop next to the USSS operating team, and fire eight shots at less than 150 yards at President Trump's head, wounding his ear.  Have you forgotten?

Grassley: Local Police Dispute Key Claim from Acting Secret Service Director's Testimony.  Local law enforcement are disputing claims that the Secret Service assigned them to cover the rooftop where a would-be assassin fired at former President Donald Trump during a Pennsylvania campaign rally in July.  Acting Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe, during recent testimony, said local police snipers were positioned inside a building adjacent to the rooftop and if they had stayed at their post, they would have seen Thomas Matthew Crooks climb into his position.  Others have posted video that also suggested this, as reported by Breitbart News.

Did the Secret Service Abandon Trump in Butler?  The inescapable question that comes up from watching a new tranche of local police body cam video of the chaos before and after the attempted assassination of Donald Trump is:  Who was in charge, anyway?  In recent congressional testimony, Acting Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe said their people "assumed" that local cops would fill in to cover treacherous spots not monitored by the Secret Service.  But that's not the story the cops on the ground were telling before and after the attack.  It appears that the Secret Service left others to do its job.

Did the Secret Service Get Busted for Peddling Another Lie About the Trump Assassination Attempt?  The assassination attempt on Donald Trump on July 13 was a total failure, which the Secret Service admits.  However, we've become bogged down in a who's responsible for what game regarding the rooftop.  The American Glass Research rooftop, less than 200 yards from the rally stage in Butler, Pennsylvania, was left unprotected.  Acting Director Ronald Rowe visited the site and delivered testimony to a joint Senate Homeland Security and Judiciary Committees hearing.  Yet, the diagram he offered on the line of sight has drawn new scrutiny from Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA). Grassley's letter to Rowe, which included photos, demands the acting director to clarify his line of sight remarks since it looks like he might have lied:  [Tweet]

Bodycam Video Shows Butler PA Rooftop Was A 'Known Issue' DAYS Earlier.  One Butler police official is NOT mincing any words about how big this [fiasco] really was, and who he thinks should be responsible for it.  According to the real-time conversation he's having with other Butler police, he was told, by the Secret Service — as early as TUESDAY! — that the Secret Service would have someone posted on that roof.  [Video clip]

Look Who's Protecting JD Vance!  [I've seen her somewhere before.]  [Video clip]

Josh Hawley Reveals Shocking New Details on Trump Assassination Attempt and the Secret Service.  Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO) appeared on the Jesse Watters show last night and revealed some shocking new details on the July assassination attempt on Donald Trump, which have been shared with him by U.S. Secret Service whistleblowers.  It turns out that the security lapses that day were even worse than previously thought.  Hawley also stressed that this information was being shared with him because these whistleblowers are worried that this could happen again.

The Media Still Turn Tricks For The Democrat Party.  For eight long years, the Left has conspired against President Trump, fabricating — and this is the short list — a Russian-collusion hoax, the Stormy Daniels fiasco, the preposterous impeachment attempts, the phony January 6 "insurrection" fiction, the classified documents at Mar-A-Lago scam, and an avalanche of lawfare suits pursued by career leftist prosecutors and decided by career leftist judges.  Nothing worked! [...] What to do?  It's probably not a coincidence that a cascade of inexplicable Secret Service failures paved the way for an almost-successful assassination attempt against Donald Trump.  Indeed, Cherie Zaslawsky (and many others) theorize that our own intelligence services, rather than displaying a Freudian level of incompetence guarding a man many despised, may have facilitated the attempt. [...] A word of advice.  Don't believe anything you hear, read, or listen to on the so-called mainstream media — not a word, not a phrase, not a suggestion, not a theory.

Trump Assassination Attempt:  What's with the Crime Scene?  On August 2, many news outlets reported that the autopsy of Thomas Matthew Crooks had been released by the Butler County Coroner's Office.  The fact is that mainstream media are late to the party, and the Butler County Coroner's Office released the cause and manner of death of Thomas Matthew Crooks to AbleChild nearly two weeks earlier on July 21.  Unfortunately, what the mainstream media don't understand is that the cause and manner of death are not an autopsy, and although an autopsy has already been conducted on the alleged body of Thomas Matthew Crooks, the results of that autopsy may never see the light of day.  That's right.  Along with so many other aspects of this "investigation," the public may never get to know the details of the alleged assassin's autopsy.  And although the autopsy shuffle is interesting, the questions regarding chain of custody of that body that need to be asked of the Butler County coroner, William F. Young III, are even more compelling.

Thoughts on the Secret Service.  I think it is now established beyond doubt that the Secret Service is stonewalling the investigation into the Trump assassination attempt.  Information has been dribbling out, and every bit of it looks horrible.  In almost every case of a revelation from the Service, a whistleblower has already revealed what was only confirmed by the Secret Service.  In other words, it was impossible to deny.  The number of coincidental security flaws has gotten so large that I have no doubt that the New York City Police Department would have run circles around the Secret Service, supposedly the most elite protective service in the world. [...] I have written several articles detailing just some of the unlikely coincidences and flaws and demonstrating that both the Secret Service and the FBI have committed perjury before Congress and provided some of the lamest excuses for their failures.

Alleged Assassin's Autopsy Is Being Withheld.  On August 2nd many news outlets reported that the autopsy of Thomas Matthew Crooks had been released by the Butler County Coroner's office.  The fact is that mainstream media is late to the party and the Butler County Coroner's office released the cause and manner of death of Thomas Matthew Crooks to AbleChild nearly two weeks earlier on July 21st.  Unfortunately, what the mainstream media doesn't understand is that the cause and manner of death is not an autopsy and, although an autopsy has already been conducted on the alleged body of Thomas Matthew Crooks, the results of that autopsy may never see the light of day.  That's right.  Along with so many other aspects of this "investigation" the public may never get to know the details of the alleged assassin's autopsy.

Did Complacency Almost Get Donald Trump Killed?  The calamity of errors on July 13th is so unimaginable, it has invited speculation of deep state conspiracies from the "Epstein didn't hang himself" crowd.  Given our government's behavior of the past 10 years, who can blame them?  The FBI and CIA attempted to remove a duly elected President with a hoax they called an "insurance policy."  That is a fact, not a theory.  The DoJ attempted to imprison Donald Trump for acts protected by the Constitution.  That is a fact, not a theory.  Democrat operatives in various states attempted to remove Trump from the Presidential ballot, based on opinions about his motives on January 6.  That too is a fact.  Congressman Bennie Thompson (D, MS) is trying to legislatively remove Donald Trump's Secret Service protection.  That he is doing so is a fact.  Given all the above, it's not much of a leap to question whether the same people that solicited some unstable patsies to kidnap Governor Gretchen Whitmer might have solicited an unstable patsy to take a shot at Donald Trump.

Now that you mention it, Epstein didn't hang himself.

The Trump Assassination attempt: knowing what should happen.  Among the best advice any writer can take is: "write what you know."  Properly applied, this axiom can keep writers of fiction from inventing semiautomatic, lever action revolvers, or writing female characters with the sensibilities of Hulk Hogan.  Because police work was my military MOS and my first civilian career, I know a few things about investigations, such as what should happen, when and why.  When those things don't happen in the right order, or they don't happen at all, it's virtually always indicative of gross incompetence and/or a coverup.  [Tweet]  Consider this list of bizarre realities in the pseudo-investigation of the attempted assassination of Donald Trump:
  ["]*the Secret Service [SS] had no radio communications not only with the local police but also with the snipers
  *most of the vital communications were made using texts over an overloaded cell phone network["]
To any competent investigator, this would be a screaming alarm, particularly since local law enforcement (LE) offered the SS not only compatible radios, but drones.  The SS refused both.  Was this institutional arrogance, gross incompetence or something more nefarious?

Why hasn't anyone been 'fired' for July 13th?  Nine days after the shocking events of July 13 in Butler, Pennsylvania, Kim Cheatle testified before Congress still holding her title as Secret Service Director and still fully in charge of the agency responsible for ensuring the safety and security of the nation's political leaders.  For her appearance before Congress, she was even defiant in her decision to stay on the job, claiming herself to be "the best person to lead the Secret Service at this time" while stressing the importance of her continuity in leadership to oversee an investigation taking up to 60 days.  Ten days after overseeing her agency's worst security failure in the past four decades, the attempted assassination of former president Donald Trump, she was able to engineer her own resignation in an email to staff, though likely doing so facing intense bipartisan pressure from Congress.  But why was Director Cheatle not fired?  Or anyone else (yet) for that matter?

Crises reveal character or the lack of it.  When Trump was grazed by that assassin's bullet, he miraculously got up, fist in the air and shouted: "Fight, fight, fight."  That, my friends, is both character and courage.  When the director of the Secret Service, Kimberly Cheatle, appeared before the House the following week, she showed her utter contempt for those members of Congress.  She refused to answer any of their questions about the Secret Service's failure of mission substantively.  She was forced to resign and her deputy, Ronald Rowe showed up next and was no more forthcoming than Cheatle was but, unlike Cheatle, he had an aggressive attitude.  His anger at being questioned was palpable.  Both of them likely lied repeatedly about what they knew.  Rowe lied when he asserted that he did not limit, as in scale down, Trump's Secret Service protection.  Several whistleblowers say Rowe did exactly that over the past two years.  Both Cheatle and Rowe slyly blamed the local Butler County police with whom they failed to meet or to establish functional communications with before the event.

The Day Trump Was Nearly Assassinated Was the First Time Secret Service Counter-Snipers Were Deployed to Protect Him in 2024 Presidential Campaign.  It was revealed that the day former President Donald Trump narrowly escaped an assassination attempt was also the first time Secret Service counter snipers were deployed to protect him during the 2024 campaign.  The U.S. Secret Service held a critical news briefing on Friday to address its "colossal security failure" at the Butler, Pennsylvania Trump rally, in light of the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump.  "Can you confirm that this was the first 2024 campaign event that counter-sniper teams were assigned to the former president?" CBS News reporter asked Rowe.  "As part of their advance, they identify those lines of sight, those high ground concerns, and there's a division of labor," said Rowe.

[The] July 13 Butler Rally [was the] First Time [the] Secret Service Sent [a] Counter-Sniper to Trump Event.  Former President Donald Trump's July 13 rally in Butler, Pennsylvania — where he survived an assassination attempt — was the first time the Secret Service sent a counter-sniper to a Trump event to protect the 45th president, the agency admitted.  "It was the first time Secret Service counter-snipers were deployed to support the former president's detail," Secret Service acting director Ronald Rowe revealed during a Friday press briefing.  [Video clip]  "With respect to why they were there in Butler, listen, we evaluate our threat landscape every day, we calibrate based on that threat, we evaluated a threat stream that we have, and we put our Secret Service counter-sniper personnel out there," Rowe continued.

Secret Service Give First Press Briefing, The Sketchy USSS Look Even Worse.  I'm just catching up on some events that I have missed.  The first press conference by the U.S. Secret Service about the Trump assassination attempt was alarming.  This is the first time the media had to question USSS since the attempted assassination in Butler, Pennsylvania.  Fox News host Jesse Watters does a good job summarizing the event and encapsulating the largest takeaways from the briefing.  [Video clip]

New Secret Service Director: worse than the old one.  They really do think we're stupid.  Just when you think they couldn't be any more arrogant, any more condescending, Acting Secret Service (SS) Director Ronald Rowe Jr. comes along.  The contemporary standard was set by former SS Director Kim Cheatle when she, without the slightest glimmer of shame, said she wouldn't allow her agents to secure the rooftop from which the assassin tried to kill Donald Trump because the roof was too steep!  That idiotic lie collapsed almost immediately under the weight of reality, much of it provided by former military snipers who observed they often deployed on mountainsides.  Cheatle was apparently unaware Americans have Internet access.  Video and photos of the not-at-all steep rooftop, and law enforcement (LE) snipers on a steeper, nearby rooftop exposed Cheatle's ridiculous lie.  Rational Americans thought the SS couldn't do worse, but that lasted only a few days until Rowe appeared before Congress.

CIA denies but evidence persists:  Trump shooter Thomas Crooks was an MKULTRA dial-up.  In a shocking development reminiscent of a political thriller, the CIA has unequivocally denied any involvement in employing MKULTRA techniques on Thomas Crooks, the man accused of attempting to assassinate former President Donald Trump.  The CIA's statement comes on the heels of a revelatory investigation by Squauk, which has sparked a storm of controversy by suggesting that Crooks may be a modern-day Manchurian candidate.  The Central Intelligence Agency responded quickly and clearly to the increasing speculation after the article appeared on the Internet. "The CIA had no relationship whatsoever with Thomas Crooks," a CIA spokesperson told Gizmodo last Thursday.  "These claims are utterly false, absurd, and damaging," the agency mouthpiece argued. "Regarding MKULTRA, the CIA's program was shut down more than 40 years ago, and declassified information about the program is publicly available on CIA.gov."  However, their strong denials do little to ease the suspicions raised by the bombshell report.  The report alleges that Crooks was subjected to mind control techniques similar to those used in the controversial MKULTRA experiments during the Cold War era.

Assassination Politics and the Abrupt Advent of Kamala Harris, a Query.  Despite an ongoing range of congressional and independent efforts to get the truth out of the Secret Service and their "intelligence" confreres, we still don't know what happened in Butler, PA, lacking conclusive, factual information behind the assassination attempt of former President Trump; nor do we know the extent of actors.  Will we ever?  Doubtful.  There are longstanding instances of reluctance to reveal true intelligence when it comes to assassinations or attempted assassinations.  To this day, there remain many arguments surrounding Jack Kennedy's killing.  Records have still not been released to the public.  At present, the entire intelligence apparatus is mum on July 13, 2024 — both Kimberly Cheatle (disgraced and forced to resign) and the present acting director were ambiguous with congressional investigators.  FBI director Christopher Wray went so far as to desperately imply — which the bureau hastily retracted — that Trump wasn't really even hit by a bullet.  The MSM, of course, are less than worthless in the effort to uncover the "facts" because they don't want to. [...] In short, there is nothing fantastical in the hypothesis that the attempted assassination of former and putative President Trump was in fact a poorly executed political operation, if a very reactionary one, within the pressure of unfolding pre-election events.

It Would Be Nice to Know the Truth.
  [#1]   Who ordered the assassination of Donald J. Trump?
  [#2]   Why haven't I heard anyone talk about the possibility (or probability) of CIA involvement in the assassination attempt and/or cover-up?
  [#3]   Is there a connection between the attempted assassination and NWO entities?

Acting Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe Caught in Another Lie, Was Personally Responsible for Cuts in Security Division Responsible for Threat Assessments.  It was a set-up.  Jesse Watters on FOX News caught Acting Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe in another lie regarding the security detail for President Donald Trump.  Nearly three weeks ago President Trump was shot in the ear and nearly assassinated at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.  Since that time the Secret Service and FBI have refused to be straight with the American people on what was really going on that day.  We still don't know why the Secret Service and FBI allowed a young would-be assassin to fire off eight shots at President Trump before he was taken out.  What is especially troubling is that the security at the rally identified Crooks 90 minutes before the shooting started and acting strange and Crooks was also spotted running along the roof of the building minutes before he started firing at the president and his supporters killing one and injuring three.

The Establishment Ensures That Gaslighting Paves The Way To Marxism.  Back in the day, socialists of all stripes (i.e., Nazis, communists, and Italian fascists) repeatedly told bald-faced lies, ad nauseum, in their speeches, newspapers and news reels.  Today, that still holds true with left-leaning "news" networks such as MSNBC, CNN, and countless print and online sources.  Today, they've added some new tricks to manipulate the truth, which is to put out lies and then withdraw them after they've gained traction. [...] During a House Judiciary Committee hearing two weeks after the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump, FBI Director Christopher Wray said that "with respect to former President Trump, there's some question about whether or not it's a bullet or shrapnel that, you know, that hit his ear."  Of course, Wray knew it was a bullet that injured Trump.  The next day, the FBI released a statement that it definitely was a bullet.  However, the aroma of maybe it was, maybe it wasn't, had already filled Marxist-Democrat talking points.

Whistleblower: Critical Secret Service Threat Assessment Team Absent Before and During Butler Trump Rally.  According to new whistleblower allegations, a critical Secret Service Counter Surveillance Division (CSD) evaluation did not occur in Butler, Pennsylvania ahead of former President Donald Trump's July 13 rally, and CSD agents were not present on site the day of the rally.  [Advertisement]  CSD agents are responsible for conducting threat assessments at event sites before and during events.  [Advertisement]  U.S. Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) said Thursday that a whistleblower told him that Acting U.S. Secret Service Director Ronald L. Rowe directed a 20 percent cut to CSD personnel ahead of the rally, and that some of the the agents who were cut had been warning of security problems for months.  Those agents, according to Hawley, "were NOT present in Butler" when 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks attempted to assassinate Trump from the rooftop of a nearby building, in plain view of many rallygoers.  [Advertisement]  "This is significant because CSD's duties include evaluating potential security threats outside the security perimeter and mitigating those threats during the event," Hawley wrote in a letter to Rowe.  "The whistleblower claims that if personnel from CSD had been present at the rally, the gunman would have been handcuffed in the parking lot after being spotted with a rangefinder."

This second-hand opinion / observation is presented here for what it's worth.
People Are Combing Through The Web In Search Of Footage From The Assassination Attempt.  [Scroll down]  Apparently, James Copenhaver filmed the rooftop shooter getting killed.  Nice..!  Weird part?  Trump is still speaking.  So, who shot Trump's ear?  The shooter inside American Glass.  [Tweet with video clip]

Acting Secret Service Chief 'Retaliated Against' Agents Who Had Security Concerns At Trump Event, Whistleblower Claims.  A whistleblower alleged that Secret Service acting Director Ronald Rowe personally cut security resources and "retaliated" against agents with security concerns leading up to former President Donald Trump's rally on July 13, according to a letter released Thursday.  The whistleblower alleged that Rowe personally implemented "significant cuts" to the Counter Surveillance Division (CSD), which does advanced threat assessments for venues, and alleged that agents who expressed security concerns were "retaliated against," according to Missouri Republican Sen. Josh Hawley's letter to Rowe.  As a result, the CSD failed to perform its "typical evaluation" of the rally venue in Butler County, Pennsylvania, and "was not present on the day" of the attempted assassination.

Lead Secret Service Agent Called Off Security from Building Roof Before Sniper Shot President Trump — And She Is Still Deciding Security and Advance Teams at Rallies.  Jesse Watters on Wednesday night revealed that the top Secret Service official who blew the security at the Trump Butler rally is still calling the shots and approving advance teams at Trump rallies.  The female agent is still calling the shots at the Trump rallies despite failing in her one job — to keep the President safe and secure in public.  It appears that there is no accountability in the US government today.  You can even fail a security detail and get the former president shot in the head and keep your job.  And we still do not know her name or the names of the other officials who set up the situation that allowed President Trump and others to be shot, despite knowing the situation was not secure.

Trump assassination attempt:  FBI contracts Israeli firm to help with gunman's encryption, source says.  The FBI has contracted the Israeli tech firm Cellebrite to help in its investigation into Thomas Matthew Crooks, the 20-year-old Pennsylvania man who tried to kill former President Trump at a rally on July 13 and mortally wounded a supporter in the crowd instead, according to a source with knowledge of the investigation.  American law enforcement agencies have tapped the company for years for its ability to break into smartphones from a range of Big Tech firms and using different mobile operating systems.  However, while a Cellebrite software patch helped investigators get into Crooks' phone within 24 hours of the shooting, the company is not privy to any of the investigation's findings, according to the source.

Lindsey Graham's Solution to Trump's Near-Miss Assassination:  Give the Secret Service More Money.  The hearing did not shed a lot of light on the events of July 13.  Everyone agreed that the Secret Service accepted responsibility but not so much as to do anything about it; [...] The FBI tried to launch a narrative that Trump's failed assassin, Thomas Crooks, was an antisemite and possibly racist, while studiously avoiding extensive social media content that indicated he was a Joe Biden, mask-now, open-borders kind of Democrat; [...] All in all, the picture painted was one of a Secret Service management structure that deprived the Trump campaign of requested resources for security because they could.  The security coordination for the rally was slipshod and lackadaisical, with no apparent attempt to establish a unified command and operations structure for the different law enforcement agencies involved.

Why Are the Feds Hiding the Would-Be Trump Assassin's Left-Wing Radicalism?  Well, well, well, stories about Donald Trump's near-assassin's motives just did a 180° turn.  A joint hearing between the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs and the Judiciary Committees on Tuesday wittingly or unwittingly uncovered that the feds have been hiding the murderer's radical, pro-Democrat connections.  The question that wasn't asked during the joint committee hearing was, "Why have you been hiding this?"  The Deputy Director of the FBI and the acting head of the Secret Service presented themselves as passionate and angry over the failures that nearly took out Trump and left a Trump supporter dead and two others critically wounded.  They cut sympathetic figures in front of the senators in Tuesday's hearing.  Throughout this entire awful episode, however, we've gotten mixed signals on Thomas Crooks' motives.  Why would a "registered Republican" want to take out the Republicans' leading candidate?  And why would this "Republican" give money to the Democrats?  It doesn't make sense.

Secret Service Rejects FOIA Requests For Trump Assassination Records.  The Secret Service rejected FOIA requests for records related to the attempted assassination against President Trump.  Would-be assassin Thomas Crooks, 20, managed to evade state, local and federal law enforcement officers, climb on a roof and take 8 shots at President Trump during his Butler, Pennsylvania rally on July 13.  A bullet grazed President Trump's ear after he turned his head at the last second to read a chart on illegal immigration.  Conservative watchdog group Judicial Watch filed three FOIA requests seeking records related to the assassination attempt and the agency refused to produce and documents.

Top JFK Assassination Researcher: 'Something Is Fishy,' Secret Service Covering Up Info on Trump Attack.  Investigative journalist Gerald Posner — whose deeply researched studies of the murders of John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King, Jr. made him a preeminent authority on political assassinations — says he can understand why so many people think there's "something fishy" about the official story of the assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump.  Noting the belated admission by the Secret Service that Trump's security team was denied requested resources before the July 13 assassination attempt, Posner asks, "Did they refuse to give Trump extra security for a two-year period?"  They were almost creating a situation in which somebody could take a shot.  Now I'm not saying that's the case, but I understand why that speculation would be there."

Trump Goes There — Republishes Social Media Post that Links Chris Wray and the FBI to His Assassination Attempt.  Less than three weeks ago, President Donald Trump barely survived an attempted assassination at his political rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.  President Trump and two other supporters were injured in the gunfire.  Another Trump supporter, Corey Comperatore, was killed by the would-be assassin.  Since that time, the media has swept this historic event under the rug.  And there is now evidence that the security team assigned to his rally were lackluster at best and even worse!

New: USSS Counter Sniper Torches Agency Leaders in Leaked Email, Expects Another Assassination Attempt.  A US Secret Service counter sniper sent a scorching to the entire Uniformed Division on Monday night, claiming that the counter snipers working in Butler, PA on July 13 "did their job with their hands tied" and that supervisors routinely dismissed concerns counter snipers brought up.  The counter sniper warned that there would be another assassination attempt before November, possibly within 30 days.  The email was obtained by Susan Crabtree at Real Clear Politics, who reports that it was quickly deleted by the agency.  Crabtree posted a photo of the email on Twitter, [...]

Meet the New Secret Service Boss, Same As the Old Dodgy Boss.  Say, remember when Kimberly Cheatle tried dodging questions about the assassination attempt on Donald Trump in congressional testimony and ended up resigning?  Her replacement, acting director Ronald Rowe, showed up at the Senate today to take questions about the failures that allowed a local nutcase to gain access to a rooftop 130 yards away from the stage and fire eight shots at Trump, wounding him and killing Corey Comparetore.  Rowe showed up prepared to provide solid answers about what transpired, who was responsible, and how the Secret Service issued false declarations in the hours and days after the attack.  Ha!  Just kidding.  Rowe followed the same obfuscatory strategy that Cheatle tried, and Sen. Ted Cruz wasn't having any of it:  [Tweet]

Members of Congress:  The Secret Service Was Set Up to Fail.  I have really bent over backward to give the Secret Service more than reasonable slack to explain how they could fail so catastrophically in their duty to protect once and future president Donald Trump.  I really have, and am still pretty certain that nobody in the government was involved in the specific attempt on the life of Trump in Pennsylvania.  It doesn't bear thinking of, so I am not going to unless there is extraordinary evidence to prove it.  It seems beyond belief that Secret Service agents around Trump, who have been with him a long time, would participate in something so evil.  And Trump is confident that his agents didn't.  But I am well past the point where I have to conclude that the Secret Service was set up to fail in protecting Donald Trump and that it was a goal of the Biden Administration to have him put in danger and possibly killed.

Democrats vs. the Man Who Could Get to the Bottom of the Trump Shooting.  After the evasive House testimony of now-former Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle and FBI Director Christopher Wray's shortlived suggestion that Donald Trump may not have been hit by a bullet, one man alone may help allay Republican fears that the Biden administration will not conduct a forthright investigation into the attempted assassination of Trump last month:  Joseph Cuffari.  The Trump-appointed inspector general for the Department of Homeland Security has already opened two investigations into the U.S. Secret Service, which is under the purview of the DHS, related to the agency's handling of the July 13 shooting.  But some Republicans are concerned because, they say, Cuffari has been stonewalled by Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on other internal examinations — including one that might have revealed Secret Service lapses that might have prevented the attempt on Trump's life.  Specifically, congressional sources tell RCI that Cuffari's report, "USSS Preparation for and Response to the Events of January 6, 2021," has been on Mayorkas' desk since at least April.

Acting Secret Service Chief Played Key Role in Limiting Resources for Trump.  Acting Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe was directly involved in denying additional security resources and personnel, including counter snipers, to former President Trump's rallies and events — despite repeated requests by the agents assigned to Trump's detail in the two years leading up to his July 13 attempted assassination, according to several sources familiar with the decision-making.  Rowe succeeded former Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle, who resigned last week after bipartisan calls following her widely panned testimony before the House Oversight Committee.  But both Rowe and Cheatle were directly involved in decisions denying requests for more magnetometers, additional agents, and other resources to help screen rallygoers at large, outdoor Trump campaign gatherings.  It was Rowe's decision alone to deny counter sniper teams to any Trump event outside of driving distance from D.C., these sources asserted.

Ted Cruz Steamrolls Acting Secret Service Director in Fiery Exchange Over Trump's Detail at Hearing.  During Tuesday's hearing before the Senate Judiciary and Homeland Security Committees, Acting Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe tried to answer questions from Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) but was repeatedly interrupted.  The exchange got especially heated towards the end of Cruz's questioning when he asked about the campaign of former President Donald Trump being "denied" requests for additional security.  Rowe tried to explain the process that went into those requests, but Cruz did not accept Rowe's answer.  After he accused the Secret Service of acting in a partisan manner when assigning protection, Cruz turned to the fateful rally in Butler, Pennsylvania:  [Transcript, video clip.]

Secret Service delayed Trump from taking Nashville stage after another security lapse: sources.  Former President Donald Trump was briefly delayed by Secret Service agents from taking the stage at a conference in Nashville Saturday because of another security lapse, The [New York] Post has learned.  The holdup was caused by two individuals who made their way around metal detectors inside the Music City Center where the 2024 bitcoin conference was held shortly after 3:30 p.m., according to law enforcement sources.

Acting Secret Service Director Plays Victim as Senator Hawley Grills Him Over Attempted Trump Assassination.  Acting Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe testified before the Senate Judiciary and Senate Homeland Security Committees Tuesday in a joint hearing on the assassination attempt of President Donald Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania on July 13.  During the hearing Acting Director Rowe said it was "unfair persecution" to relieve officials who were responsible for the breakdown of security at the Trump Butler rally where President Trump was shot and another man was murdered.

More 1984 Than You Can Imagine.  Did you know that Donald Trump was almost assassinated in July 13th?  Google autocomplete doesn't, and neither does MetaAI (Facebook's AI).  For all they know, nothing at all happened on July 13th.  No, I am not joking.  It is really true and a good example of how search algorithms and AI models can be manipulated to create a reality utterly at odds with the "facts."  I was tipped off to this phenomenon yesterday on Twitter, and at first I thought it must be a photoshop job.  It turned out not to be, and thousands of others have done the same thing and come up with the same results.  By now it may or may not be different, because Google was caught, but it shows just how powerfully the Big Tech titans or their minions want Donald Trump to lose this November.  [Tweet]  I did the exact same thing myself and verified that, in fact, Google autocomplete believes I am more likely to be interested in information on the attempted assassination of Seward or Robert Fico (who?) than that of Donald Trump.

The Left Is Trying To Memory-Hole Trump's Assassination Attempt.  Google has severely throttled users' ability to search for the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump less than three weeks after he avoided certain death by less than an inch.  In doing so, Google joins what appears to be a trend to suppress information about the attack.  Trump narrowly survived the July 13 assassination attempt during a Butler, Pennsylvania, rally when he cocked his head to the right to look at a graph showing illegal immigration under his administration.  A bullet struck his ear.  Fifty-year-old Corey Comperatore was fatally shot after shielding his wife and daughter from gunfire, and two additional rallygoers were severely injured.  But Google users might not know that because Google has suppressed autocomplete search attempts.  A cursory search of "assassination attempt on t —" produces two top autocomplete hits: "assassination attempt on Truman" and "assassination attempt on the pope."  A broader search of "assassination attempt on" produces 10 autocomplete hits — none of which relates to Trump's assassination attempt.

Wild Trump assassination attempt video shows cops surround building, then a barrage of gunfire.  Shocking new footage from the assassination attempt on Donald Trump shows local cops with guns drawn surrounding the building from which Thomas Crooks opened fire — a full 2 minutes and 10 seconds before the shooting.  The video later shows a barrage of gunfire, and then the crowd's reaction to Crooks being shot and killed by the Secret Service, with one witness commenting that it must have been a headshot because of the "big poof of hair."  As the video unfolds, Trump can be heard in the background speaking to the crowd at his rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13 — but no attempt was made to get him off the stage.

In the line of fire.  [Scroll down]  The shooter was observed more than an hour before he fired but no one questioned him, seen after he was seen using a range finder.  On that day, everyone dropped the ball.  They were all careless and unprofessional.  No one seemed to be in charge.  Kimberly Cheatle, the then-Chief of the SS certainly was not and to date, whoever was in charge has not been named.  Does he or she still have a job?  The internet is overflowing with countless theories.  That is what happens when the government is so unforthcoming, so secretive, not transparent.  There are only questions, few answers; some of their answers are ridiculous.  How many shooters?  One, two or three?  From what locations did the shots come from?  How many shots?  What happened to the shell casings that were on the roof and then they were not?  According to the bodycam videos that have been released, there was no marking of the location of those shell casings that were on the roof the AGR building.  Why was the shooter's gun lying about eight feet from his body when the law enforcement (local?  SS? ATF? FBI?) made it to the roof?

New Video:  Previously Confiscated by FBI, Shows Police Alarmed by Shooter on Rooftop for a Long Period.  In a shocking turn of events, newly released footage from a previously confiscated phone shows that police were acutely aware of the shooter's presence on a rooftop for an unusually extended period during former President Donald Trump's rally in Nashville.  Despite this alarming situation, the Secret Service failed to remove Trump from the stage, raising serious questions about the handling of the incident.  The footage, now made public by the phone's owner, reveals that police officers had noticed the shooter, later identified as Thomas Crooks, and were visibly concerned about the threat he posed.  One officer can be heard urgently communicating the sighting, while others can be seen pointing towards the rooftop where Crooks was positioned.  You can also hear a suppressed shot and see the muzzle flash in one of the 1st floor windows on the video.  Plain as day.  Whether it's been altered is another story.

Bongino Claims That Trump Assassination Bombshells Are Coming Soon.  Dan Bongino has been all over the Secret Service failure that resulted in the near-assassination of former President Trump.  As a former Secret Service agent himself, Bongino has inside knowledge and sources that make him a great source of information you won't hear elsewhere.  He's been there, so he knows how the Secret Service operates.  On his podcast over the weekend, he offered a "comprehensive breakdown of the Secret Service failure in Butler County, Pennsylvania" and went over some recent developments in the story, such as the fact that law enforcement officers who were assigned to monitor the roof the shooter fire from did not do so because it was "too hot."

New Text Messages Reveal Another Troubling Update on Trump Assassination Attempt.  Two words describe the security situation at the Trump rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13: hot mess.  There are so many glaring flaws, and the ground is so inexcusable that it is fertile for conspiracy theorists.  Can you blame them?  The Secret Service is stonewalling and stacking sandbags amid intense scrutiny from lawmakers from both parties.  We don't know if would-be assassin Thomas Matthew Crooks was a lone gunman.  How many casings were recovered from the roof?  We don't know.  What we do know is that no one at the Secret Service has been disciplined for this calamity, and now text messages obtained by The New York Times show that snipers knew about Crooks earlier than initially reported.  It provides yet another [embarrassing] update on the assassination attempt that nearly killed a former president.  Crooks missed delivering a fatal headshot by millimeters[.]

Trump countersnipers' chilling text messages before assassination attempt.  A series of bombshell text messages from countersnipers who were supposed to protect Donald Trump at the Pennsylvania rally where an assassin's bullet nearly killed the president showed them a step behind the gunman.  A massive inquiry has started in the wake of the attempt, which Trump miraculously survived, with the resignation of Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle coming soon after the July 13 shooting.  Now, it appears a group chat of those meant to protect Trump were aware that gunman Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, was in their midst over 90 minutes before Trump was shot at, rather than an hour as the FBI had previously claimed.

Senator Ron Johnson Provides Information About Trump Assassination Attempt from Govt Officials.  Senator Ron Johnson is the former chair of the Homeland Security Committee.  Johnson's staff have been sending letters to various agencies responsible for presidential security, in an effort to find out as much information as possible about the assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania.  It has only been two weeks since an assassin attempted to kill President Trump, while murdering a rally attendee and critically injuring two others.  However, most of the corporate media have dropped the subject and quickly rushed to the coronation of Kamala "brat" Harris.  In an attempt to diminish the issue, Google has even removed search qualifiers for the Trump assassination attempt.  Google doesn't do this without active participation with DHS and the Intelligence Community.  Ron Johnson talks to Fox News about the briefings he and his staff have received from DHS and Secret Service officials.  [Video clip]

Way Beyond Sketchy — Local Butler County SWAT Team Says Trump Secret Service Detail Did Not Communicate with Them Before Shooting.  There are a growing number of voices pointing very specifically at the U.S. Secret Service and saying the level of incompetency in Butler County, Pennsylvania, was not accidental.  Indeed, as the fact pattern emerges, despite — and perhaps because of — the lack of public press briefings by DHS and the Secret Service leadership, a strong argument is now gaining momentum that USSS intentionally set President Trump up to be assassinated.  In this horrifically possible scenario, 'willful blindness' is the best alternative.  Putting further fuel on the possibility of an intended collapse of security, the local Butler County SWAT team is now telling the public that Secret Service officials never met with them, nor provided secure communications channels between the SWAT members and the Secret Service.  The SWAT team had no way to tell the USSS of the threat they saw moving toward President Trump.  This detailed revelation is very troubling.  [Video clip]

Trump Shooting 'Was Clearly An Inside Job' — Sopranos Star Drea de Matteo.  Former "Sopranos" star Drea de Matteo believes the assassination attempt on Donald Trump at his rally in Butler, Pennsylvania was an "inside job."  The 52-year-old actress criticized left-leaning celebrities, calling them "embarrassing" and "self-righteous" for purporting to be a "trusted voice" for the people.  "I think this attempt was clearly an inside job.  All these kids are saying, 'I can't believe he missed,'" de Matteo told Daily Mail.  A lot of people don't have a clue what's really happening, and that's why there's Trump derangement syndrome.  It's the level of propaganda and the twisting of information... there's no truth out there anymore."

Newly unearthed video from Trump shooting appears to show suppressed rifle fire from FIRST floor window.  A user on X (@realDJstew724) has posted a video that he says he recorded himself at the Trump shooting, capturing what appears to be the firing of a suppressed rifle from inside a first floor window of the very same building on which Crooks was crawling (on the roof).  Although further confirmations are needed — and this user says he will post his raw video within a day or so — unless this is some sort of elaborate hoax requiring very technical audio and video alterations, this video appears to have captured a new shooter that has previously not been known to exist.  Importantly, this apparent shot took place just over 9 seconds after the first round was fired, meaning it would be round #10, making the counter-sniper shot from U.S. Secret Service round #11, at approximately 16 seconds after the first round was fired.

Top 12 Questions for all the alleged suspects and conspirators of the Trump Assassination Plot.  President Donald J. Trump poses a major threat to the insidious globalist agenda, the demented Left's agenda, and the fake news industrial complex.  This is no conspiracy theory.  They hate him.  Despise him.  Want him dead.  That's why the Democrat Party is now called the Party of Death.  Well, they almost got what they wished for, but not quite.  Somehow, Trump survived being shot in the head, but the culprits left breadcrumbs everywhere, and it's becoming obvious there were several conspirators involved, if not several organizations to boot (think FBI, Secret Service, local police, George Soros).  Though every human's life is valuable and precious, Trump's life could literally be the saving grace for our entire nation, its security, its peace, its constitution, its future.  This was a complex murder/assassination plot that no dumb 20-year-old millennial could have possibly pulled off alone, and now it's looking like he may not have even shot his gun at all.  Now it seems that the likely shooter may have been stationed in the water tower, that's being pointed out as a location that law enforcement was looking to secure right after the shootings took place.

Trump shooter's home scrubbed clean like "medical lab" — no silverware, trash anywhere to be found.  Members of the U.S. House Committee on Homeland Security grilled Pennsylvania State Police Commissioner Col. Christopher Paris this week about what was discovered at the home of Thomas Matthew Crooks, the 20-year-old suspected of shooting Donald Trump in the ear at a July 13, 2024, rally in Butler, Penn.  What Paris inadvertently revealed in his testimony is that Crooks' home had already been scrubbed clean like a "medical lab" by the time local law enforcement arrived.  According to Paris, his agents were unable to confirm the presence of any silverware, trash or other things that one would expect to find in someone's living residence.  In fact, it almost sounds as if the house was simply a staging area or perhaps a command center.  "Did your team make entry and conduct any investigation of the suspect's home?" asked former Navy Seal and current Rep. Eli Crane (R-Ariz.), who serves Arizona's 2nd Congressional District.  "I believe we had people that participated in securing it; there were bomb assets that we provided on the night of," Paris responded.

Google Appears To Be Trying To Hide Donald Trump Assassination Attempt.  Americans are acutely aware of the role that Big Tech plays in elections, and it appears that Google — one of the biggest tech companies in the world — is already setting the stage to edit out information that might help Donald Trump get elected over likely Democratic nominee Kamala Harris.  Several people noticed that Google's "autofill" feature, which ostensibly figures out what a person might be trying to search for and helps them, doesn't give a Trump assassination attempt option.  [Tweet]  Try it for yourself.  Go to Google and start typing "assassination attempt Trump."

The Editor says...
There's your problem!  You're using Google.  Use something else.  DuckDuckGo is The Editor's favorite search engine, because [#1] even though it's not aware of everything Google knows about, it's adequate, and [#2] it's not Google.

Police Testimony Raises Even More Questions About Trump Assassination Attempt.  Pennsylvania police have revealed that, besides would-be assassin Thomas Matthew Crooks, there were at least two other suspicious individuals spotted at the July 13 Trump rally.  This revelation has sparked questions about the security measures in place at the event.  Pennsylvania State Police Commissioner Col. Christopher Paris testified before the House Homeland Security Committee, detailing the presence of additional suspicious individuals identified before Crooks launched his attack on former President Trump.  [Video clip]

"The one thing we are certain of is the FBI and Secret Service are lying to us."
The Strange Case of the Water Tower & a Rooftop Assassin.  [Scroll down]  We were lied to about the roof's slope.  It was easily and quickly disproven.  It's only a 4.76° pitch, as we know from videos and Senator Hawley's observations.  The administration has no respect for our intelligence.  A video in the crosspost by Dr. [Robert] Malone claims Crooks was a distraction, the magician's assistant in this trick, and the real shooter was possibly on the water tower.  There was an SUV under the water tower.  Some eyewitnesses said they saw someone on the Water Tower.  Some say a sharpshooter shot and killed the person on the water tower. [...] The van was allegedly tracked to the Department of Agriculture. [...] Dr. Malone pointed out one of the more amazing anomalies:  the financial bets placed the day before the Trump rally.  On July 12, Austin Private Wealth LLC made a massive bet against Trump's business empire by shorting 12 million Trump Media and Technology Group Corp shares.  They also took out 'put options' on 34 million shares of Rumble.  The next day, there was an attempt on Trump's life.  What are the chances that the Secret Service was this incompetent and stupid?

Wittingly or Unwittingly, If This Is True, Donald Trump Was Set Up to Die.  Sen. Ron Johnson released a preliminary 13-page investigative report.  It is shocking.  Sen. Johnson demands all records preserved.  Knowing this government, it will take years to get them.  Secret Service wasn't going to send snipers to the rally.  That's deliberate malfeasance.  They can't be that stupid.  Why were photos sent to ATF? Something to do with guns?  They didn't plan, communications weren't siloed, and the Secret Service knew about Crooks.  Listen to this.  Some anonymous man said to send the photos of Crooks to ATF.  Why?  Crooks was photographed at 5:10 pm, an hour before the shooting.  This is very disturbing.

Bongino: Trump Is In Real Danger, 'Secret Service Will Let It Happen Again'.  During a recent segment on his show, Dan Bongino voiced serious concerns about the inadequate security measures at a recent political rally, stressing that both President Trump and other politicians are at significant risk.  Bongino criticized the lack of an advanced Secret Service team and the promotion of an acting director overseeing security.  "This is a large outdoor rally in an open field with massive line of sight issues," Bongino began.  "The advanced Secret Service team should have been out there a minimum of eight hours in advance.  How [...] did you miss this guy?"  [Tweet with video clip]

No More Stonewalling on the Assassination Attempt!  Something is very fishy about the lack of information on the Trump Assassination attempt.  A man died, others wounded, and the former and future President of the United States was struck by a bullet and escaped death by pure luck.  And we know little more about the event today than on July 14th, right after the dust settled.  I would assume that hundreds or even thousands of law enforcement agents are working on the case, digging up tidbits of information, but that the big questions are mostly already answered — just not to us.  The FBI and the Secret Service are hiding the ball and even feeding conspiracy theories intentionally, such as when FBI Director Wray suggested that Trump wasn't actually shot.  This is insane.  The Secret Service Director — when she was testifying before Congress — actually said that it would take 60 days to produce a report and that the public wouldn't learn anything more until it was done.

The FBI Throws the FBI Under the Bus After Christopher Wray Pushed Conspiracy About Trump Gunshot Wound.  Don't believe your own eyes.  That was the message from the far-left following the assassination attempt on Donald Trump as they spread conspiracy theories that he wasn't actually shot.  Claims ranged from "it was glass" to the entire shooting being staged.  That's expected from the BlueAnon lunatics.  It's less expected from the head of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.  As RedState reported, FBI Director Christopher Wray decided it'd be a good idea to spread the left-wing conspiracy theory that Trump wasn't hit by a bullet.  [Tweet]

[The] FBI Clarifies That [a] Bullet Struck Trump During [an] Assassination Attempt At [a] Rally.  The FBI clarified Friday [7/26/2024] that a bullet struck former President Donald Trump during an attempt against his life in a rally on July 13.  An attempted assassin present near a Trump rally in Pennsylvania on July 13 opened fire and injured the former president before he was neutralized by the Secret Service.  FBI Director Christopher Wray told Congress on Thursday that there were still "some questions" as to what exactly had struck Trump during the assassination attempt, whether it was a "bullet or shrapnel," though did not directly mention whether glass fragments could be responsible, a theory that has been used by some in the media.

All U.S. intelligence chiefs, including Cheatle, refuse to testify in Trump assassination inquiry.  Nobody in charge of America's top three-letter law enforcement agencies is willing to testify about what really happened at Donald Trump's campaign rally in Butler, Penn., on July 13 when the former president took a bullet to the ear, it is being reported.  Not only is Kim Cheatle, the former head of Secret Service — Cheatle just resigned after her agency failed to protect Trump and his supporters — refusing to cooperate with the congressional investigation, but the same is also true of Christopher Wray, director of the FBI and Alejandro Mayorkas, who heads the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).  Various witnesses who were at the rally are said to be cooperating with the House Homeland Security Committee probe, but not Cheatle, Wray or Mayorkas whose loyalties appear to be elsewhere other than the American people they swore to serve[.]  [Video clip]

Evidence Shows At Least Two Shooters Were In Butler, PA.  We are being told that 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks was the lone gunman in the attempt on Trump's life on July 13.  After reviewing the evidence that's come out so far, I'm not buying it.  Most [convincing] are the audio recordings of the event.  But I'm not going to explain it all, I want you to hear it for yourself.  The following video was released on July 18 by Chris Martenson, co-founder of Peak Prosperity.  Martenson holds a Ph.D. in pathology from Duke University, and his analysis of the audio clearly indicates that shots were fired from two separate locations.  The video is 32 minutes long, and I highly recommend people listen to the entire analysis.  However, if you have only 90 seconds, jump ahead to the 18:00 minute mark and listen for 90 seconds.  You will hear two distinctly different sounding guns.  [Video clip]

The Editor says...
No, the best part of that video is not in the middle.  If you don't have the time or patience to watch the whole 30-minute video clip, just watch the first two minutes and the last two minutes.  It's a real eye-opener.

Slow news month.  [Scroll down]  Regarding Trump's unscheduled ear-piercing, Crooks seems to have acted with unusual sophistication for a twenty-year-old nerd.  There is some lingering suspicion that he didn't act alone — yet no actual leads have been developed.  How he did what he did kind of remains within the range of possibility.  But it's still kind of odd.

How Many Progressives Wanted Trump to Die?  [Scroll down]  According to the article, Eric Kaufman, a UK-based academic who is currently a professor at the University of Buckingham, conducted a snap poll of "a few hundred people" five days after the attempt on Donald Trump's life. [...] Kauffman's poll said that 0% of Leftists strongly disagreed, 15% did not agree or disagree that the shooter should not have missed.  But, according to the poll, 71% of the Progressives queried said they strongly agreed that Trump should have died from the assassin's bullet.  Kauffman commented that the results show a growing partisan asymmetry in the U.S., adding that "The Left is more prejudiced against the Right than vice versa."  Kauffman also noted that the survey reflects an attitude among the Left that conservatives are not just wrong but evil.  He stated that the Left uses "catastrophizing language" employing words like "white supremacy," "fascism," and "danger."  He added, "Given our new politics of identitarian sacredness and moral absolutism, we should not be surprised to see a rise in political extremism."

How Trump nearly paid the ultimate price for the Secret Service's diversity targets.  A rare thing happened following the attempted assassination of Donald Trump: agreement between the Democrats and Republicans.  Namely, that the director of the Secret Service, Kimberley Cheatle, had to go.  After being mauled by both sides at a congressional hearing a day earlier, Cheatle resigned, albeit reluctantly, on July 23.  But the entente cordiale over her fate was short-lived, with Republicans quickly apportioning blame for Cheatle's perceived failings on her drive to reform the very make-up of the Secret Service.  "You are a DEI [diversity, equity, and inclusion] horror story," Republican congressman Tim Burchett told Cheatle, 53, at Monday's highly charged hearing.  His remarks added to a swell of criticism from the Right, with a slew of Republicans accusing the agency stalwart of being so concerned with diversity targets during her two-year tenure that she took her eye off the ball and failed at the only task that really mattered — keeping presidents and presidential candidates alive.

A World of Illusions.  Cheatle was cut loose because Democrats are covering their rears.  Democrats want to fob off the shooting as another misfit white guy with grudges.  But is that the real story?  Thanks to their hate rhetoric, more likely, Thomas Matthew Crooks was incited to try killing Trump.  The "Trump as Hitler" line was started by Hillary Clinton last autumn on The View.  Crooks nearly changed history.  Democrats have been dodging the truth.  Republicans shouldn't let them get away with it, but probably will.  Cheatle — a DEI hire, too — was in over her head.  As mentioned, the Secret Service had under-resourced Trump's protection detail.  That suggests a darker motive: that Cheatle and her boss, Alejandro Mayorkas, the weaselly secretary of Homeland Security, didn't [care] about Trump's safety.  A number of Democrats spilled the beans.  After the shooting, many publicly hopen that the next gunman "wouldn't miss next time."

Gab Founder Says Trump Shooter Thomas Crooks 'May Have Had Account' — Was Pro-Biden.  Thomas Crooks, the 20-year-old resident of Bethel Park, PA who allegedly tried to assassinate Donald Trump may have had an account on social media alternative website Gab.  He apparently used the platform to spread messages in support of President Joe Biden, indicating a progressive political leaning.  Gab CEO Andrew Torba says he has received "an emergency disclosure request from a law enforcement agency" pertaining to a specific account linked to Thomas Crooks.  The account @epicmicrowave (which the CEO stressed he has been "unable to confirm" was definitely Crooks') "posted on the site nine (9) times total," Torba tweeted just 30 minutes after getting the law enforcement request.

Newsweek descends deeper into the gutter of vile propaganda.  With the nation's foremost word salad chef as the nominee, the latest diktat is to destroy Trump.  They couldn't attack Trump immediately after the assassination attempt, they would appear inhuman.  Despite what they think, they had to feign 'lowering the temperature' and improving the quality of discourse.  But now they realize that the assassination attempt had an impact.  It proves that the danger against Trump's life is real and the Democrat media and their hateful and dehumanizing discourse led to it. [...] The assassination attempt humanized Trump in minds beyond his core base.  Most fair-minded people will be alarmed and concerned.  They will think, 'If this can happen to him for challenging the establishment, what chance do we have?"  Finally, it revealed that Trump is fearless.  His display of courage and his tough talk are not an act but reflect his true nature.  Few humans would have risen moments after a bullet almost took their life to urge his supporters to fight back against tyranny.  The photograph of the moment has made the incident iconic.

Empire of Lies.  Consider for example Monday's congressional testimony of a certain Kimberly Cheatle.  Ms. Cheatle directed the United States Secret Service when an aspiring assassin made a mockery of the lady's organization.  How can a murderous fellow scale a low rooftop with a rifle — some 140 yards from a former and potentially future United States president — and let eight projectiles loose — before being scotched?  Here he was[,] placing his thumbs in his ears[,] wiggling his fingers[,] and putting out his tongue at Ms. Cheatle and the organization she bosses.  And in the private opinion of Ms. Cheatle, that is the highest sin.  It is not act itself.  Is greater professional incompetence scarcely conceivable?  We do not believe it is.  Yet the lady donned her armor, barricaded herself within fortress walls and deflected all questions concerning her agency's abominations.  She could not answer this question or that question because it is an "ongoing investigation."  "Was July 13 a Saturday, madam?"  "It's an ongoing investigation."

A World of Illusions.  [Secret Service director] Cheatle needed to go but never should have been hired.  But that's the Biden administration's tale.  It's populated with DEI box checks to please progressives.  Their incompetence, corruption, and blinkered devotion to woke ideology have converged to wreck America.

Photo Of Trump's Ear Without Bandage Sends Leftists Into Conspiracy Frenzy.  An image of Donald Trump's right ear without a bandage has prompted leftists to resume with suggestions that he wasn't really hit by a bullet.  The image, taken from an interview Tuesday, shows Trump has some light bruising around the top of the ear.  [Tweet]

Doug Casey on the Trump Assassination Attempt and What Comes Next.  The official narrative is still crystallizing, as all the government employees and bureaucrats who were supposedly responsible for Trump's safety scurry about to ensure their careers aren't adversely affected.  Now that Kim Cheatle, the security hen in charge of the Secret Service, has resigned to collect her fat pension as a public mea culpa, the Secret Service and FBI will conduct internal investigations.  A few people may be reprimanded and placed on administrative paid leave for a couple of weeks.  A question will be asked as to whether it was a lone nut or part of a broader conspiracy.  The odds are 99 out of 100 they'll conclude the former, whether or not it's true.  They definitely won't dare find there was any conspiracy within the Secret Service to take Trump out...  The only thing that I'm really sure of is that the Secret Service was ultra-incompetent in scores of separate and egregious ways.  The Biden administration's DEI policies fatally compromised SS effectiveness, starting with a diversity hire as director and using two short fat chicks as frontline security for Trump.  If you have bodyguards, especially for a big, tall man like Trump, you want big, tall, muscular guys.  Many more things will come out showing how poorly managed the Secret Service has become.

Biden Must be Held Accountable for his Actions.  The most immediate key person in the organizational chart below who was responsible for the assassination attempt fiasco has now resigned; Secret Service (USSS) Director Kimberly Cheadle, who reported to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.  Mayorkas is the next person who must go.  According to a report from the Washington Post, published on July 21, 2024, USSS leadership has denied repeated requests from Donald Trump's security detail over a two-year period for additional resources, including more snipers and other security measures.  Mayorkas's decision to deny additional Secret Service protection for Trump and the complete refusal of Secret Service protection for Kennedy has played a significant role in both presidential campaigns and endangered the lives of these candidates.  Mayorkas is now pressuring Trump not to hold any more rallies outside — as the "Secret Service" feels (there is that word again...) that they can't protect Trump in such events.

Secret Service Threatens Trump:  Stop Your Massive Rallies, Or Else.  The same agency that failed to protect former President Donald Trump from a would-be assassin's bullet is now asking the GOP's presidential candidate to stop holding large outdoor campaign rallies.  The request from the grossly incompetent (at best) federal agency stinks of election interference and sounds a lot like a threat.  As The Washington Post first reported Tuesday evening, the U.S. Secret Service is "encouraging" the Trump campaign to halt the large-scale events his supporters have grown accustomed to.  "In the aftermath of the shooting, agents from the Secret Service communicated their concerns about large outdoor rallies going forward to Trump campaign advisers, three people familiar with the matter said," the Post reported, not naming its sources.  Trump's team, at least according to the Post story, is scouting larger indoor arenas to accommodate thousands of rallygoers.  The campaign "is not currently planning any large outdoor events, a person close to Trump said."

Is Donald Trump safe?  Trump supporters cheered when we saw that the former president had survived the assassination attempt and pumped his fist in defiance and heroic resolve.  We mourned the death of Corey Comperatore who died heroically protecting his family from harm, and we prayed for David Dutch and James Copenhaver who were seriously wounded by the assassin's bullets. [...] At the risk of throwing cold water on our collective sense of relief, I must ask the obvious question:  what are the chances there will be another attempt on President Trump's life in the remaining months before the election?  At this point, I must think it's possible and even likely.  With the depth and vitriol of Trump Derangement Syndrome, there are many out there who ardently believe the Democrats' repeated declarations that Donald Trump is an 'existential threat to Democracy,' as well as the 'second coming of Adolf Hitler.'  You don't have to look any farther than ABC's 'The View' to find them.

Why Kimberly Cheatle Had to Resign.  Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle resigned Tuesday following congressional testimony on Monday in which she dodged questions about her handling of the July 13 assassination attempt on Donald Trump in Pennsylvania.  Cheatle left many questions unanswered in the wake of her resignation.  Most importantly:  was there a decision made by the Biden administration to deprive the Republican presidential candidate of adequate protection?  It is hardly peddling conspiracy theories to suggest that Cheatle's answers to this and other questions appeared evasive to the point that they indicate a cover-up.  Shortly before the assassination attempt, Democrats publicly advocated removing all Secret Service protection from Trump.  Moreover, President Joe Biden has repeatedly accused Trump of being an existential threat to the country.  Cheatle's testimony came a full nine days after the attempt on Donald Trump's life, in which one man was killed and two others were badly injured.  Until then, Cheatle continued to deny any wrongdoing on the part of the agency, despite the obvious bad outcome.  As Cheatle testified under congressional subpoena, her purpose again seemed to be to obscure, deflect, and dissemble.  Her answers were one part obstruction and two parts ignorance as she fumbled to regurgitate her inventory of pre-written talking points.

Cheatle rubbed our noses in her dirt.  Well, well, well.  Someone in the Biden administration finally face the consequences of her action.  The New York Post reported, "Secret Service head Kimberly Cheatle resigns after shocking failures led to Trump assassination attempt."  The story said, "Cheatle, a 28-year veteran of the agency, faced mounting pressure to step down in recent days but insisted all along she would remain on the job.  She announced her resignation in a letter to agency staffers on Tuesday morning."

FBI Director Grilled Over Assassination Attempt Investigation.  Members of Congress grilled FBI Director Christopher Wray Wednesday over details of the FBI's investigation into the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump.  Wray's testimony at a House Judiciary Committee hearing comes as the FBI faces criticism over unanswered questions surrounding the agency's handling of the ongoing investigation into the recent shooting at a Trump campaign rally earlier this month.  The Secret Service has also come under fire for the security issues surrounding the rally shooting.  Former Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle on Tuesday stepped down from her post after calls for her resignation, as The Center Square previously reported.  Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan questioned Wray on many of the details leading up to the attempted assassination.

FBI Director:  Shooter Flew Drone over Area Hours Before Trump Spoke.  Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) Director Christopher Wray told members of Congress on Wednesday that the man who fired at former President Donald Trump during his rally on July 13 flew a drone over the area just hours before he took the stage.  Wray told the House Judiciary Committee that the shooter, Thomas Matthew Crooks, flew the drone over the area as late as around 3:50 p.m. to 4 p.m. on the day of the shooting.  Trump was originally scheduled to begin speaking at 5 p.m.

The Editor does not necessarily agree with this viewpoint:
The Shooter is to Blame, Not the Rhetoric.  Let them, the name-callers, speak.  Let them call anyone they want Hitler.  You know why?  Because for everyone calling him Hitler, there's at least one other person speaking about Trump rationally.  At least one.  And there's absolutely no reason to presume Crooks was deaf to them, the rational ones.

Everything connected to Washington and the Democratic Party stinks like a rotting corpse.  For example, it now appears that the colossal security failure on July 13th during Trump's Pennsylvania rally was the result of providing the Secret Service too few resources, forcing it to depend more on local authorities than normal.  The Secret Service and the local police then showed themselves to all be utterly incompetent.  It appears communications between these different government agencies was poor or non-existent.  The local people were supposed to secure the top of the roof where the assassin eventually placed himself, but decided instead to go inside the building because the roof "was too hot."  Unfortunately, it seems this decision wasn't conveyed to the Secret Service properly.  It therefore appears Crooks was able to station himself on the roof and fire at Trump because the Secret Service thought he was a local police sniper.  At least, that's my interpretation of the facts, as presently understood.  Based on the ugly and stonewalling testimony of now former Secret Service head Kim Cheatle yesterday before Congress (who finally resigned today [7/23/2024]), it is impossible to say for sure what happened.  That she has now resigned is no victory, because she did so in a way that made it even harder to gather the facts, resigning after she spent a day refusing to answer any questions from Congress.

The Editor says...
The article above is a terribly naive assessment of the attempted assassination of Donald Trump.  (I might give the FBI and the Secret Service "the benefit of the doubt" if I had never heard of Stephen Hatfill, Richard Jewell, Chance Brannon, Jeremiah Rufini, the Wolverine Watchmen, the stolen Civil War gold, the Fake Fed Nazis, the Mar-a-Lago raid, or the Whitmer kidnapping plot.)  The shooter, as I said days ago, was very obviously not a cop.  Even if he was a cop, he was pointing a gun at Trump, which should have been met with a forceful challenge no matter who he was.  The writer of the article above attributes the fiasco to coincidence, incompetence, miscommunication and bad luck, when a more realistic assessment points to stubbornness, territorialism, and a malicious conspiracy to stand aside for just a moment and let a murder take place — and then rub out the patsy.  The conspiracy angle would be a lot harder to believe if it were not for the past several years of friction between Donald Trump and the Deep State.  The Washington Swamp can't stand the idea of another four years under Trump, but everything they've thrown at Trump so far has failed — or will soon fail when appealed to a high enough court.

Would-Be Trump Assassin Researched Oswald-Kennedy Killing, FBI Director Testifies; Motive Still Unclear.  FBI director Christopher Wray revealed several new details about the assassination attempt on former president Donald Trump during a Wednesday hearing, including the fact that the would-be assassin researched the Oswald-Kennedy assassination ahead of his attempt on Trump's life.  Wray was called before the House Judiciary Committee to explain how Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, managed to make his way onto a rooftop just outside Trump's campaign rally in Butler, Pa., and fire into the crowd, wounding Trump and killing former fire chief Corey Comperatore.  Two others were critically wounded during the shooting before a Secret Service counter-sniper killed Crooks.  A search of Crooks's laptop revealed that he began researching the Trump rally roughly one week before the event.  The would-be assassin's browsing history suggests he was reading news articles about various public figures around that time, though Wray insisted that there was no discernible pattern as to the identity of those figures.  Crooks's motive remains unclear, Wray testified, revealing that the bureau has not uncovered any manifesto or other piece of evidence that would explain why he targeted Trump.

Four Times as Many Local Secret Service Agents [were] Sent to [cover] Jill Biden on [the] Same Day Trump Was Shot.  GOP Rep. William Timmons of South Carolina pressed Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle on Monday on reports that the Pittsburgh Secret Service field office sent four times the number of additional agents to cover a first lady Jill Biden event than to former President Donald Trump's July 13 rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, where he was shot.  Cheatle neither confirmed nor denied that was the case.  Biden was speaking at an event at Rivers Casino in Pittsburgh for approximately 300 people close to the same time Trump was speaking at his rally attended by several thousand, according to the Pittsburgh Tribune.  Timmons started out his questioning of Cheatle asking if she agreed with the statement that Secret Service resources allocated to a particular events should correspond to the risk profile of it.

Wray Says There Were At Least Two Instances Where FBI Officials Expressed Disappointment That Trump Survived Assassination Attempt.  And we are supposed to believe that Trump would-be assassin Thomas Crooks acted alone?  FBI Director Christopher Wray appeared before the House Judiciary Committee on the attempted assassination of President Donald Trump. [...] Christopher Wray absurdly claimed it appears Crooks acted alone.  So we're expected to believe Crooks did the following all by himself without an insider's help:
  •   Flew a drone over the Pennsylvania fairgrounds and got aerial footage of the rally layout on the day of the event — including 2 hours before Trump took the stage.
  •   Got a range finder through security.
  •   Evaded law enforcement officers from several different state, local and federal agencies.
  •   Somehow 'climbed' up on a roof with his rifle 450 [feet] away from Trump, bear crawled to the perfect vantage point as bystanders alerted police and was still able to take 8 shots at Trump.
  •   Parked a vehicle full of explosives near the Trump rally — even though there is no online search history of Crooks researching how to make at-home explosives.
  •   Crooks was able to walk around the premises after Snipers took a photo of him looking suspicious.
  •   A sniper located in the second story window was only 40 feet away from Crooks and didn't neutralize him.
  •   Trump was still able to take the stage after Crooks was pegged as suspicious by Secret Service.

Congress Must Appoint An Independent Investigator For The Assassination Attempt.  Currently, Congress seems content to allow the FBI to investigate what happened in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13.  This is the wrong approach.  Because the government has an incentive to hide its own failures, when it comes to the attempt to assassinate Trump, especially given the U.S. Secret Service's known failures, the must be an independent investigation.  During my career, I worked several times with the United States Secret Service ("USSS") on protective details when presidents and candidates came to our city.  I believe the attempt to assassinate former President Trump was a horrific, epic failure, to say the least, with preplanning, communication failures, resource skimping, and more.  The assassin flew a surveillance drone over the site!  I assume the USSS is lining up scapegoats.  (Cheatle's resignation counts as the first sacrificial lamb.)  The agencies involved will gloss over or ignore the root causes and the domestic and foreign operators, including the Biden administration and others, that may be involved in what happened in Butler.

A 'Warren Report' isn't going to fly in 2024.  Everybody knows that the "lone gunman" is dead, but the controversy surrounding the theory that Thomas Matthew Crooks was a "lone gunman" is not.  Many feel entirely justified to continue exploring whether others had to be involved in this operation for it to unfold in the way it did.  Monday morning, Secret Service Director Cheatle studiously avoided answering any questions members of Congress were asking to help bring forth truth and transparency to the public.  In response to Cheatle's non-responses, Rep. Anna Paulina Luna tweeted out the following: "After leaving the oversight briefing this morning, I'm more convinced than ever that Crooks wasn't working alone."  At this point, the American public should not naively accept that a 20-year-old was acting alone any more than we should hold to any belief in the veracity of the Warren Report, which has been questioned since its issuance sixty years ago.

Grassley Shares Incredible Bodycam Footage From Roof Where Shooter Perched at Trump Rally.  It's been 10 days since a would-be assassin shot former President Donald Trump in the ear, killed former fire chief Corey Comperatore, and wounded two other men during a Trump rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.  While investigators and lawmakers alike continue to seek answers as to the serious security failures that led to the horrific event, more details are emerging, including videos from the scene.  On Tuesday afternoon, Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) shared bodycam footage taken shortly after the incident on his Twitter/X account.

Representative Eli Crane Notes a Report that Assassin Thomas Crook's House was Scrubbed Prior to Investigation.  At today's House Homeland Security Committee hearing, Rep. Eli Crane (R-AZ) questioned the Commissioner of the Pennsylvania State Police, Christopher Paris, about a video he took of the Butler Township location of the assassination attempt against former President Trump.  Toward the end of his questioning, Representative Crane says he has received information that Thomas Crook's house was scrubbed, cleaned and even silverware removed, prior to the investigative units arriving.  Seems odd.  [Video clip]

Additional Three Individuals Identified as 'Suspicious' Prior to Trump Assassination Attempt, Says Pennsylvania Police Commissioner.  The Pennsylvania State Police Commissioner, Colonel Christopher Paris, disclosed that not one, but four individuals were flagged as suspicious during former President Donald Trump's rally at Butler, PA on July 13, 2024.  This information came to light during a congressional hearing following the assassination attempt on the former President.  According to preliminary findings reported by Senator Ron Johnson's office, local law enforcement had spotted Crooks nearly an hour before the shooting.  Crooks was first spotted by a local law enforcement sniper, who noted suspicious behavior but did not observe any immediate threat of a weapon.

Deep State Carnival Barkers Distract Us with Kamala.  A MAGA-hating gunman attempts to assassinate President Trump.  Democrats cheer the impulse but decry the shooter's wayward aim.  Did the murderer have accomplices?  Did he successfully evade Secret Service agents because Democrats are obsessed with promoting "diverse" hires over those with proven excellence?  Will the female director of the Secret Service resign due to her incompetence?  The Department of Homeland Security says such questions are "conspiratorial," "patriarchal" and even "ableist."  Nothing puts the "D-I-E" in diversity like sacrificing a protectee in the name of "political correctness."  But Trump's survival denies Democrats their much-anticipated happy ending.

Secret Service Director Cheatle resigns after mounting pressure in wake of Trump assassination attempt.  U.S. Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle resigned Tuesday in the wake of mounting pressure following the assassination attempt on former President Trump, Fox News confirmed.  Fox News reviewed the letter Cheatle sent to the U.S. Secret Service Tuesday morning, just a day after taking bipartisan heat during testimony before the House Oversight Committee Monday and over a week after a would-be assassin Thomas Crooks attempted to take the life of Trump at his rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13.  "To the Men and Women of the U.S. Secret Service, The Secret Service's solemn mission is to protect our nation's leaders and financial infrastructure," Cheatle wrote in a letter to the agency.  "On July 13th, we fell short on that mission."

Footage Shows Security Talking About How They Noticed Sniper Crooks Before He Got On The Roof.  Bodycam footage released by Senator Chuck Grassley from the Trump Pennsylvania rally on July 13th.  The video was obtained from the Beaver County Emergency Services Unit.  In the footage, the men were discussing how they had noticed Thomas Crooks earlier before the incident unfolded.  "Beaver County snipers saw him and sent the pictures out.  This is him."  [Video clip]

Donald Trump's shooter — a product of government schools' indoctrination?  President Biden and others are urging Americans not to make assumptions about motive, but we are all eager to know why — what would cause a young man to want to assassinate Trump?  I instantly think of his young age; not long out of high school having had his head recently pumped full of leftist indoctrination.  With Critical Marxist theories intended to pit people against one another, and so-called "social justice" indoctrination happening in early grades and intensifying over time, children are taught to hate themselves, others, and their country.  So, someone who loves our country and is committed to making it great again is an obvious target for "social justice" at any cost.

23 Takeaways From Secret Service Director's Testimony Before House Oversight Panel.  Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle testified before the House Oversight Committee on Monday, in the wake of the July 13 assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump. [...] Earlier in the hearing, Cheatle had said she didn't use an encrypted app to communicate with the White House.  Rep. Eric Burlison, R-Mo., followed up on that.  "Have you used any encrypted app to communicate from your personal device?" Burlison asked.  "I do on occasion use encrypted apps to communicate," Cheatle replied.  The Missouri lawmaker sought to clarify — with whom.  "Many times, it's with colleagues and associates," Cheatle said, adding, "There are times when the Secret Service, when we work internationally with some of our partners, that they don't have the same texting capability."  Burlison asked, "You're not able to do that with your government device?"  She replied, "Recently, we've been able to install some of those apps on government devices."  The Missouri Republican said: "I'm actually shocked you are using your personal device, encrypted communications tools.  I think that might be the most shocking thing that I've heard today."

The Editor says...
This sounds like the time Hillary Clinton used a secret email server for "personal" (i.e., embarrassing) messages.  All that secrecy can only be explained by the need for deception.  If Ms. Cheatle is up to her neck in a plot to stand aside and allow the assassination of Donald Trump, that would help to explain why she needs encrypted communications on some device other than the one provided by her employer.

The Dog That Didn't Bark.  Representative Mike Waltz (R-FL) questions Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle in a House Oversight hearing Monday on the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump at a July 13 campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.  Representative Waltz points out "the dog that didn't bark."  [Video clip] 
  •   Where are the official 10:00am press briefing updates every day on the investigation?
  •   Where are the official press conferences from the Secret Service, FBI and law enforcement answering questions and providing information from the prior days investigative results?
  •   Where are the organized and official updates to let the American people know what has been found out about the assassination attempt on President Donald Trump?

Secret Service director Kimberly Cheatle is blasted for 'stupidity' and 'BS excuse' that snipers were not on the roof used by gunman Thomas Crooks because it was 'too sloped'.  The Secret Service's director Kimberly Cheatle has been slammed for her 'stupidity' and 'BS excuse' that snipers were not present on the roof used by would-be assassin Thomas Crooks because it was 'too sloped'.  Speaking to ABC News on Tuesday, Cheatle claimed that agents were not positioned on top of the sloped building, deeming it too dangerous -- despite images from the scene showing Secret Service snipers set up on a sloped roof behind where Trump was delivering his speech.  Former Army Ranger Sean Powell was among those who registered his outrage with Cheatle's 'BS excuse' a rage filled tweet.

Explosive Move:  Nancy Mace Forces Impeachment Vote on Secret Service DEI Director Kim Cheatle Within 48 Hours!.  Congresswoman Nancy Mace (R-SC) announced the filing of a privileged motion to impeach Kim Cheatle, the Director of the United States Secret Service, on Monday night.  Mace sharply criticized the performance of U.S. Secret Service DEI Director Kim Cheatle during a House Oversight and Accountability Committee hearing.  Mace accused Cheatle of being evasive, dodging critical questions, and displaying a lack of transparency.

Kimberly Cheatle Says No Radio Communications Were Recorded on Trump Shooting Day.  In an obvious effort to protect impeached Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Director Alejandro Mayorkas, Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle pretended to testify Monday before the House Oversight Committee about the shooting of former President Donald Trump.  Her obvious assignment was to stonewall, hide behind "ongoing investigations," and simply refuse to answer questions she had the answers to.  One question that was answered is a total bombshell.  During her testimony, Cheatle admitted that sometimes radio communications between Secret Service details are recorded, but "we do not have radio communications" from the day of the assassination attempt.

Secret Service Chief Kimberly Cheatle Fails to Answer How Firearm Got to Rooftop, When Last Sweep Occurred.  President Joe Biden's Secret Service chief Kimberly Cheatle failed to answer whether shooter Thomas Matthew Crooks carried the firearm to the rooftop or if it was already there before the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump.  Cheatle also failed to answer when the last sweep occurred ahead of Trump's July 13 rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.  "Director, your agency has a no fail mission, and on Saturday, July 13, your agency spectacularly failed.  The failure resulted in the death of Corey Comperatore and serious injury of two other rally attendees," Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ) noted during Monday's House Oversight Committee at a hearing, titled, Oversight of the U.S. Secret Service and the Attempted Assassination of President Donald J. Trump.

Secret Service Director Stonewalls Lawmakers at Hearing on Trump-Assassination Attempt.  Secret Service director Kimberly Cheatle assured lawmakers that she takes full responsibility for the failed assassination attempt on former president Donald Trump at the first congressional hearing on the subject — but mostly refused to provide any details on what exactly went wrong, passing the buck instead to the FBI to provide specific information.  The House Oversight Committee brought in Cheatle on Monday to testify about the major security lapses leading up to the shooting at Trump's rally in Butler, Pennsylvania less than two weeks ago.  The hearing comes as the FBI, Department of Justice Inspector General, and the Secret Service itself conduct their own investigations into how Thomas Matthew Crooks, an untrained, 20-year-old local man, managed to climb onto a roof less than 150 yards from where Trump was speaking and fire multiple shots before he was stopped.

First report on 'preliminary findings' of Trump assassination attempt published by Ron Johnson's office.  Immediately after the attempt on President Trump's life in Butler, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin senator Ron Johnson launched a probe into the security and law enforcement failures by interviewing government entities and officials, and "soliciting information" from private companies.  Here are five key details, from an item out this morning by Landon Mion at Fox News, breaking down the findings from Johnson's 13-page report:
  •   The Secret Service failed to show up for a pre-event security briefing on the morning of the rally, which was given to local SWAT and sniper teams.
  •   The Secret Service did not initially intend to dispatch snipers to the event, before "changing plans for unclear reasons."
  •   Local law enforcement alleged communication was "siloed" and direct contact with the Secret Service outpost and its agents was infrequent.
  •   Local law enforcement also alleged they "notified command" about Thomas Matthew Crooks before the shooting, and "received confirmation" that the Secret Service got the message and was tracking on Crooks's presence and movements.
  •   Crooks brought two large bags with him, pictured with his bicycle, personal effects which have all since disappeared.
[...] That looks like a lot of gear, and for a kid who's apparently never looked up how to build at-home explosives yet had somehow figured out how to do so, I'd like to know what else he had on him.  Lastly, just some food for thought:  Someone in the comments stated that CNN had never live streamed a Trump rally until Butler — whether or not this is true I'm not sure, but I couldn't find any evidence to the contrary.

Secret Service Director Kim Cheatle Admits They Deleted Coms From July 13th, The Same Thing That Happened On Jan 6th.  Secret Service director, Kim Cheatle admits USSS does not have radio comms recordings from July 13.  Secret Service Director Kim Cheatle is the same person "Responsible for the J6 deleted texts scandal" January 2021, USSS deleted texts of 2 dozen agents/officials related to Jan 6.  They've never been recovered.  This is all a coverup and an inside job.  [Video clip]

One Exchange with Direct Cheatle Encapsulates Everything — Cheatle Told to Watch Video of Crowd Warning Police About Location of Shooter.  There were a lot of political and campaign soundbites generated by the testimony, non-testimony, of Secret Service Direct Kimberly Cheatle today; however, one exchange between Cheatle and Representative Raja Krishnamoorhi is worth reviewing.  Congressman Krishnamoorthi plays a video in front of Cheatle showing people in the crowd pointing to the shooter and shouting at law enforcement.  Krishnamoorthi then take the opportunity to ask follow-up questions.  [Video clip]

Mostly Peaceful Assassinations.  Leftists see history as a series of confrontations between progressive and reactionary forces.  The escalation of those confrontations from political protests "dissent is patriotic" to violent riots "the language of the unheard" to terrorism "the last desperate struggle of outraged and exasperated human nature" is blamed on the failure of society to become sufficiently socialist.  The right side of history arrives when society, and all conservative and reactionary forces, is overthrown.  Assassinating a president, especially a reactionary one, is a means to that end.  Over the last 9 years, liberals had pursued every possible legal and illegal means from secret investigations to lawfare to street violence to prosecution on invented grounds to stop Trump.  Are we supposed to believe that the same political interests that defended the violent BLM riots as "mostly peaceful" were willing to shrink away from a targeted assassination of Trump?

Mobile Data Reveals Someone Who Regularly Visited Thomas Crooks' Home and Work Also Visited a Building in Washington DC Near FBI Office.  Who visited Thomas Crooks' home before he attempted to assassinate President Trump?  Mobile ad data analysis reveals someone who regularly visited Crooks' Pennsylvania home also visited a building in DC near an FBI office.  The Oversight Project identified nine devices linked to AD-IDs that were located at Crooks' home and work within the last year.  Per the Heritage Foundation's Oversight Project: "We found the assassin's connections through our in-depth analysis of mobile ad data to track movements of Crooks and his associates[.]"

Ex-Obama Official Linked to Cartel Drug Smuggling Picked to Investigate Trump Assassination.  Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas named Janet Napolitano to a panel investigating the Secret Service failures that allowed Trump to be shot.  Napolitano, Obama's Homeland Security Secretary, was at the nexus of the investigation over Fast and Furious, an Obama administration program that helped smuggle guns to cartels in order to impose gun control on Americans that backfired and led to the murder of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry.  After claiming that she knew nothing about, she now gets to sit on a panel investigating another federal government arm that claims it knew nothing about its own decision to deny security to President Trump.  At least Janet Napolitano has plenty of experience in the relevant area.

It's Hoaxes All the Way Down.  [Scroll down]  Now, in the span of 8 days, we are faced with two extraordinary events that on their face are so shocking and unlikely that you have to wonder what the real facts are.  The assassination attempt on Donald Trump was the result of such massive incompetence, so many oversights, and such implausible coincidences that any sane person would wonder how it could happen.  That so many people think that it was the result not of gross negligence, not even of depraved indifference to the safety of the president and his supporters, but of an actual plan is hardly surprising.  I doubt that the Secret Service was "in on it," because that is almost unthinkable, but you can't blame people for wondering.  There is only so much incompetence you can believe.  [Tweet]  Now, the Director of the Secret Service is stonewalling Congress, and that is not just a bad look but conspiracy theory bait.  She is obviously covering something up; we just don't know what.  I suspect it is just gross negligence--denying resources to the president or some other bureaucratic negligence.  But can you blame people for having darker thoughts?  Cheatle is feeding conspiracy theories, not dispelling them.  She deserves whatever opprobrium is thrown at her.  Who is she protecting?

Biden Admin Beefed Up Secret Service Protection for Ukraine's Zelensky While Denying It to Trump.  The Secret Service has come under heavy scrutiny since the attempted assassination on Donald Trump on Saturday, July 13. [...] Naturally, the Secret Service's failures that day sparked a wider investigation into the agency.  Prominent conservative lawyer Mike Davis has been pursuing this intently and is currently campaigning for lawmakers to scrap a bill which would remove Trump's protection should he be imprisoned.  On social media, Davis highlighted how a 2022 visit by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky required "beefed up" Secret Service protection, with D.C. officials reportedly treating it as a "mini-state visit."  However, requests by the Trump campaign for further security have repeatedly been denied due to a "lack of resources."  [Numerous tweets]

Kimberly Cheatle gets an F+.  [Scroll down]  As so many have done in congressional hearings over the past year, Cheatle successfully stonewalled every serious question, refusing to provide any details that would illuminate the source of the Secret Service's miscues and failures in Butler, Pa.  No one would have expected anything different.  Her answers came right out of the same playbook so many federal agency directors have used, consisting mostly of "I can't speak to the details of an ongoing investigation" and "I don't have the specifics here, but I'll be happy to get back with you on that." [...] What we have seen over the recent months is evidence of a growing contempt by federal bureaucrats for the congressional committees that are tasked with overseeing their activities.  They refuse to comply or answer questions with impunity, and when they engage in their obvious stonewalling efforts, they do so confident in the knowledge that although they may be embarrassed for a short few hours by stinging questions and accusations in a committee hearing, once it's over, they will return to their plush offices, fat government salaries, and privileged lifestyles, with no consequences to their positions of power or their careers.

America's crisis of ineptitude.  As events of the past few weeks crowded each other off the front pages and cable news outlets, interested Americans watched the head of the Secret Service, Kimberly Cheatle, "testify" before the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability.  But she testified to absolutely nothing.  She answered no questions.  The woman turned evasiveness into an art form.  She was expressionless, her voice monotonal.  It was as if she were on some form of medication that so dulled her senses she performed like an automaton.  She seemed to think the attempted assassination of Trump was no big deal while dispassionately admitting it was the Secret Service's greatest failure.  She certainly demonstrated no remorse, no particular concern.  Her ignorance of the facts of the "incident" (her term), whether feigned or real, was shocking.

Secret Service Director Says She Would NOT Have Resigned If Trump Had Been Killed.  Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle faced intense grilling by the House Oversight Committee over her agency's failure to prevent an attempted assassination of President Donald Trump.  Cheatle refused to resign and even claimed in her testimony Monday that she was the "best person to lead the Secret Service at this time."  [Tweet with video clip]  But at one point in her testimony, Cheatle made a stunning admission that even if Trump had been killed, she STILL would not have resigned!

Cheatle On The Hot Seat:  How Does She Still Have A Job?  Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle is, quite frankly, the luckiest person in Washington DC at the moment.  Cheatle lucked out in that Donald Trump did not get his head blown off on her watch.  She has lucked out in that Joe Biden is too distracted or too senile to demand her resignation, or that he didn't just fire her outright.  And she has lucked out with her testimony in front of the House Oversight Committee today, because if it were up to the Committee, she would be instantly unemployed.  Honestly, I have never seen a level of bipartisan anger like this at a committee hearing.  Both sides were equally [angry] at Kimberly Cheatle, and both sides came with very pointed questions that she is either unwilling or unable to give answers to.  It's honestly hard to tell in watching the testimony if Cheatle is incompetent or maliciously noncompliant.  Yes, "both" would also be an option in this case.

Rep. Pat Fallon Eviscerates Secret Service Director Cheatle: 'You Should Go Back to Guarding Doritos'.  Representative Pat Fallon (R-TX) delivered a scathing critique of Secret Service Director Kim Cheatle's handling of a critical security incident, suggesting she was so incompetent she might as well go back guarding snack chips instead of the President.  Fallon pressed Cheatle on her absence from a crucial security site, revealing she had not visited even nine days after the incident.  Fallon exposed that Cheatle had not communicated with the on-ground security team until three days after the incident, a delay he found unacceptable.  Cheatle's responses were vague, suggesting she did not have a clear timeline of her actions during the crisis.

Rep. McClain Brings Straight Fire to Kim Cheatle, 'What Are You Covering Up?'  I think the clock has to be ticking down on Secret Service head Kim Cheatle's time in her job.  The hearing on Monday, which took about five hours, was wild, with representatives on both sides of the aisle trying to get answers from her.  Democrats, including Reps.  Raja Krishnamoorthi, Ro Khanna, and even Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez asked good questions.  But Cheatle didn't do anything to help herself.  In fact, her recalcitrance to answer even the most basic questions that they asked her made everything worse.  By the end, they were even angrier at her failure to provide information than at the beginning.

Ron Johnson Lays Out Astonishing Info and Big Questions in New Report on Assassination Attempt.  There's been some incredibly disturbing information that has come out so far in regard to the Secret Service handling of security for the Trump rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13 before the assassination attempt where former President Donald Trump was shot in the ear, Corey Comperatore was killed, and two other men were injured.  We reported on Sunday about the disturbing news that the Secret Service admitted they hadn't provided resources when asked for the Trump detail, when they had previously denied that.  Also, according to information from Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) reported by Real Clear Politics' Susan Crabtree, they delegated 12 post-standers for Jill Biden's event in Pittsburgh versus three for Trump's event with many more people in Butler.  That, despite a known threat from the Iranians against Trump.  We had already covered the report that resources had been moved to Jill Biden from the Trump detail and that the Trump detail didn't have a lot of their regular people on it, that there were "temps" on the detail.  Now, there's even more.

Secret Service Director Crumbles as Marjorie Taylor Greene Asks Simple Questions.  [Video clip, partial transcript.]

8 shots to Hell.  I am curious whether this turns out to be a leftist stirred up to hatred by the culpable leftist media, or if it is an official assassination attempt approved by Joe Biden or others on his team.  Or a hybrid of the two, a leftist loony recruited by Biden's increasingly lawless administration to give them some amount of deniability.  "It wasn't us, it was that crazy guy.  We're not all like that."  Baloney.  They are all like that.  Every leftist in the country, even my liberal friend Mark, all of them either encouraged this overtly or implicitly in the way they talk about Trump.  I am sickened by the putrid moral rot that has collectively inhabited and desecrated their souls.  "By any means necessary" they say. [...] Today's assassination attempt was the ineluctable result of that encouragement.

The Attempted Assassination — Part 2.  [Scroll down]  Another major consideration is about the qualifications of federal employees — like Secret Service personnel.  Which is more important: to have such people be qualified, Critical Thinkers, or to have them be hired because of DEI criteria?  Based on multiple reports of inexplicable behavior by various law enforcement personnel in this situation, the answer should be obvious.

Republicans or Democrats, conservatives or liberals — who is 'extreme?'.  Democrats claim Trump was responsible for Jan. 6 even though he urged his supporters to demonstrate "peacefully and patriotically" and offered thousands of National Guardsmen to protect the Capitol prior to that date.  (Nancy Pelosi turned him down.  Curious.)  Now they won't accept responsibility for Trump's attempted assassination even though they have been calling him (and his supporters) Nazis/fascists/Hitler/extremists/domestic terrorists/far-right/deplorables/etc. for years on end.  That is who they are.

Trump tells Jesse Watters that he was not warned about gunman, despite reports.  Fox News host Jesse Watters recently conducted a sit-down interview with former President Trump to discuss last week's failed assassination attempt.  The interview, which will [air] Monday night at 8 p.m. ET, featured both Trump and his vice presidential candidate JD Vance.  Vance currently serves as a U.S. Senator representing Ohio.  The three men discussed the assassination attempt against the former president last week.  Gunman Thomas Matthew Crooks shot at Trump from a roof in the middle of a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, wounding the presidential candidate on his right ear.

Here's the First Democrat to Call on Secret Service Director Kim Cheatle to Resign.  The first Democrat has joined Republicans in their call on Secret Service Director Kim Cheatle to resign following the would-be assassination of former President Donald Trump.  Democrat Rep. Brendan Boyle (D-PA) said the evidence that "is coming to light" has shown "unacceptable operational failures" and that he has no confidence Cheatle can continue effectively running the Secret Service.  [Tweet]  Hours after the would-be assassination took place, Boyle also condemned the political violence that took place during Trump's Pennsylvania rally last week.  [Tweet]  Cheatle is facing intense scrutiny over the troubling details regarding the breach of security that left Trump injured.  In a resurfaced video, Cheatle admitted she pushed for DEI initiatives within the agency and vowed to hire more women despite their lack of qualifications.  Her focus is for the department to be made up of at least 30 percent women by 2030.

Maria Bartiromo:  Mysterious Man in Grey Suit Climbed Ladder, Directed Police While They Took Photos of Crook's Body.  On Sunday [7/21/2024], Rep. Ron Johnson joined Maria Bartiromo on her show, dropping bombshell after bombshell concerning the recent assassination attempt on President Trump.  Johnson informed Bartiromo that the Secret Service had neglected their scheduled meetings on the morning of the attempted assassination.  Moreover, they had also taken photographs of the would-be assassin, identified as Crooks, an hour prior to the shooting!  Johnson also revealed that he has seen evidence suggesting the possibility of not one, but two shooters.  Bartiromo told Pete Hegseth of Fox and Friends Weekends, "The local officers went up to that roof and started taking pictures of the dead body, of the shooter's body.  So suddenly a guy in a gray suit walks up the ladder and goes up to the roof."  This man, who did not appear to have credentials, was initially assumed to be from the Secret Service.  He instructed one of the local law enforcement officers to send photos to a particular cell phone number.  Later, it was revealed that this individual was not from the Secret Service at all.

Mystery Man In A Grey Suit Blows Trump Assassination Plot Wide Open.  Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI) is reporting that a mysterious man in a grey suit approached local police officers and asked them to send photos of would-be Trump assassin Thomas Matthew Crooks' body to a cellphone number.  It was later determined that the number belonged to an Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) agent.  During an appearance on "Sunday Morning Futures," Johnson told host Maria Bartiromo that his staff immediately started reaching out to local law enforcement in the aftermath of the attempt on former President Donald Trump's life in Butler, Pennsylvania.  Johnson first reported that the Secret Service did not attend a 9 a.m. security meeting last Saturday in which security plans for the event were to be discussed.  "[The Secret Service] pretty well put in charge the Butler County law enforcement to coordinate things.  Law enforcement wasn't even on the same channel," Johnson said.

The Editor says...
Everybody in the FBI, CIA, NSA, and Secret Service is a "Mystery Man."  Your chances of identifying any of them are near zero.  If you make a big issue of it, the next thing they investigate will be you.

Joe Rogan Jumps On The 'Deepstate Trump Assassination' Bandwagon.  Joe Rogan raises serious questions about the Trump assassination attempt.  "They have organized assassinations before.  And when they organize assassinations, it looks just like that.  And when they organize assassinations, one of the things they like to do is have some [expletive] loser kill the president, and then they kill the [expletive] loser, and that's a wrap."  [Video clip]

When Democrats Incite an Assassination.  Democrats and their Antifa shock troops have been calling Donald Trump "Hitler" and demanding that he be "eliminated" for eight long years, and the moment someone listens to them, those verbal hitmen are downright offended that anyone might hold them personally responsible.  Sure, they'd gladly imprison anybody who dared to "mis-gender" a fifty-year-old creeper hanging around little girls, but to point an accusatory finger toward the leftist fifth column encouraging violence against conservatives is beyond the pale.  As I said, cuckoo commies abandoned reason long ago. [...] Biden has been painting Trump as a deadly threat to American citizens for years.  Inevitably, someone was going to interpret his words (and those of so many other Democrats employing similarly incendiary language) as a demand for violent action.  PINO Joe and his commie coalition have made political assassination look like some twisted form of civil "justice."

Horse hockey.  Even at a "loose security" event, a random guy can't walk around with a rifle.
Whistleblowers: Feds Treated Trump's Butler Rally As A 'Loose Security' Event.  Federal officials planned former President Donald Trump's rally in Butler, Pennsylvania with "loose security," according to whistleblower allegations.  A gunman at the rally shot and wounded the former president, injured two attendees, as well as killed firefighter and father Corey Comperatore. "According to the allegations, the July 13 rally was considered to be a 'loose' security event," Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., wrote in a Friday letter to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.  "[A]llegations suggest the majority of DHS officials were not in fact USSS [Secret Service] agents but instead drawn from the department's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI)."

Secret Service's Incompetence Is Exactly Why We Need Trump To Dismantle The Deep State.  The failed assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump, one of the worst security fiascoes in American history, reflects a core truth that fuels the MAGA movement and makes the case for reelecting its leader to the Oval Office:  Our leading institutions are so corrupted and incompetent that the purported experts who run them cannot or will not execute their most basic functions.  When it comes to the Secret Service, its singular duty is to protect the life and limb of the subjects to whom it is detailed.  On July 13 in Butler, Pennsylvania, it failed that mission in a spectacular fashion.

Did the US government just accidentally admit guilt in the Trump assassination plot?  There's a thick cloud of mystery and suspicion hanging over the Trump assassination plot.  To say conspiracy theories are flying would be a wild understatement.  They are off the hook at this point. [...] Darren Beattie actually asked the million-dollar question recently.  It's not so much about the slopes or why the would-be assassin wasn't engaged sooner.  The real question everyone should be asking is:  how did the shooter know that spot would be free?  [Tweet] [...] There's a ton of shady stuff happening, and there are too many unanswered questions.  So, it shouldn't surprise anyone that the regime, hell-bent on punishing and destroying their political enemies, is now clamming up.  The nation just watched a former President of the United States get shot on live TV, and everyone — except for the US government — wants answers.

Secret Service honchos denied Trump additional security for 2 years before assassination attempt.  Secret Service officials repeatedly rejected Donald Trump's request for additional security in the two years before last weekend's assassination attempt, The [New York] Post has learned.  The ex-president, 78, asked for more agents and magnetometers at large public events he attended, as well as extra snipers for outdoor venues, four insiders told The Washington Post, which first reported the [bad] revelation.  Each request was shot down by senior officials who claimed the agency lacked the resources Trump was asking for, the outlet reported.

Nine Secret Service Failures that Nearly Led to Former President Donald Trump Being Assassinated.  Former President Donald Trump was nearly assassinated a week ago, as he spoke at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Saturday in what is seen as the largest Secret Service failure in four decades.  The bottom line is the agency in charge of protecting Trump failed to stop the shooter, 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, from positioning himself less than 500 feet away and firing eight bullets at the former president, one coming mere millimeters from taking his life.  Here are nine major Secret Service security failures we know of so far that need to be addressed: [...]

The 'woke' ways of President Biden and Kimberly Cheatle's US Secret Service.  Embattled Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle has unabashedly embraced woke initiatives at the agency ever since she took over two years ago — including recruiting at Pride events, hosting seminars on pronoun use and even bringing in a popular YouTube female daredevil to attract a more diverse workforce.  Cheatle, 53, unveiled her marching orders in the Secret Service's 2023-2027 strategic plan, demanding agents to be "focused on achieving excellence through talent, technology and diversity," documents reviewed by The [New York] Post show.  "We must embrace diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility (DEIA) across the agency," wrote Cheatle, a longtime friend of First Lady Jill Biden who was plucked in 2022 from her previous job as global security boss at PepsiCo by President Biden to be the second woman to lead the federal agency.  "DEIA must be demonstrated by all employees — leading by example — through 'every action every day.'"

Questions for the Secret Service Director.  Secret Service director Kim Cheatle, who by all accounts got the job because she's Jill Biden's pal, will reportedly appear before Congress this week.  Here are a few questions Senators and Congresspersons might want to ask:  [Very long list.]

Getting to Ground Zero in the assassination attempt investigation.  For Congress to get to the bottom of the assassination attempt against Trump, it must ask the right person the right question.  (Hint:  Kimberly Cheatle is not the right person.)  The good news is that Congress wants to get to the bottom of the security failure at the Butler, Pennsylvania, rally last week.  James Comer (R-Ky), chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability, noted that "there are questions about how a rooftop within proximity to President Trump was left unsecure." He has announced that his committee will convene a hearing on July 22 to investigate.  The bad news is that Rep. Comer plans to begin his inquiry into the debacle by examining the Secret Service's director, Kimberly Cheatle.  However, all knowledge about the debacle lies with the agents on the ground.  She's a desk jockey.

Cover-up: FBI Tries to Kick Out Senator Josh Hawley at Assassination Attempt Site.  During an explosive interview with Sean Hannity, Missouri Senator Josh Hawley revealed shocking information about the recent assassination attempt on President Trump.  Allegations of incompetence, lack of coordination, and a gross disregard for security protocols have been leveled against the Secret Service and other federal agencies involved in protecting the President.  [Partial transcript]  The Gateway Pundit reported that Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO) sent a letter to DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on Friday demanding answers on the attempted assassination attack on President Trump at his rally in Pennsylvania last weekend.  [Tweet with video clip]

What a Week!  [Scroll down]  The Secret Service contingent that was assigned to the Butler event failed to properly secure the perimeter, allowed the shooter to surveil the area with a drone, approach the grounds with a range finder, rifle, and ladder, and mount the roof of a building which provided the clearest shot of Trump.  Kimberly Cheatle, the head of the Secret Service, preposterously defended not covering the roof the shooter used because it was sloped and dangerous, but it was practically flat and the agency's snipers shot him from a roof with a much greater slope.  The administration's refusal to date to answer legitimate inquiries adds to suspicion.  And then there's the question of whether this was a lone shooter or not.  As usual the FBI, before a serious investigation, announced it was a lone assassin. (Compare to the JFK assassination where 50 years later 61 percent of Americans discount the single-bullet explanation and believe the killing was part of a conspiracy.) But without more, we have no reason to credit an agency that in recent years does not warrant it.  The first account made it seem as though the Secret Service sniper shot Crooks immediately after he shot Trump, but then how to explain the murder of one spectator and the wounding of two others?  Apparently, there were more shots than just Crooks and the sniper's single shots.

WH Announced Jill Biden's Pittsburgh Event 78 Hours Before Trump Rally Shooting.  Did the Biden White House intentionally set a Jill Biden event in Pittsburgh as a way to draw Secret Service and site security resources way from former President Trump's rally in nearby Butler, Pennsylvania?  Given the timing of how Dr. Biden's event was rolled out, it sure looks that way to me.  Here's a screenshot of the White House press release that announced Jill Biden's trip to Pittsburgh on the evening of Saturday, July 13th, to address the Italian Sons and Daughters of America dinner.  Note the date is July 10th, and the time is 11:58 a.m.  Pre-credentialed media had but two days to sign up to accompany her.  Judging by the lack of pool reports, it appears she traveled without a press contingent. [Exhibit]  That announcement was followed up with a press release of her schedule for Saturday the 13th, sent out in the evening of July 12th.  That was the only event on her public schedule.  No notice of her origination site.  Was she with Joe in Delaware, and returning to Delaware?  No information on that.  And no one is asking.

Blackburn: When the Secret Service Messes Up, People Die.  Friday [7/19/2024], during an appearance on FNC's "The Ingraham Angle,' Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) criticized the Secret Service for its handling of the aftermath of the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump.  Blackburn made her comments after a Wall Street Journal report that the alleged gunman flew a drone over the rally site near Butler, PA.  [Video clip]

Trump's Would-Be Assassin Had Two Cell Phones and 3 Encrypted Accounts Overseas.  Trump's would-be assassin Thomas Matthew Crooks had two cell phones and used three encrypted accounts overseas to communicate.  The FBI found Crooks' second cell phone at his home with only 27 contacts, The Daily Mail reported.  Congressman Mike Waltz told Fox News host Jesse Watters that according to an FBI briefing, Crooks had multiple encrypted accounts and said more will come out Monday.  Rep. Waltz said the Trump shooter had the overseas accounts at the same time we heard about the Iranian assassination plot against Trump.

Senator Hawley:  Whistleblowers Say Most of Trump Security Working Rally Were Not Even Secret Service.  And the hits keep coming.  Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO) sent a letter to DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on Friday demanding answers on the attempted assassination attack on President Trump at his rally in Pennsylvania last weekend.  Senator Hawley wrote that whistleblowers have notified him that a majority of the security officials working the rally last weekend were not even Secret Service personnel but were with the Homeland Security Investigations team!  They were not even trained Secret Service personnel!

To Call Them Journalists Is A Misnomer.  [Scroll down]  When you listen to the commentary on the mainstream media (the Left supporters) about an event you saw in person, you would think you were at different versions of the same.  An example is the assassination attempt of Donald Trump.  We heard the shots and saw the President grab his ear and drop to the stage for safety.  He reflexively knew to get down behind the bulletproof protection.  The Secret Service agents immediately surrounded him, but he quickly got up and pumped his fist to the crowd with blood streaming down his face.  According to CNN, the President was injured, not shot, and MSNBC said the President fell.  They did whatever they could to downplay the attempt to kill Donald Trump and the way he responded.  It is pathetic and obvious.

Secret Service Dropped The Ball, Best Case Scenario, Heads Need To Roll.  [Video clip only.]

Secret Service threat standards.  [Scroll down]  I've previously suggested it appears the SS, whether purely internally or with orders from above, has been creating security vulnerabilities with plausible deniability, vulnerabilities they hoped someone might exploit to kill Trump.  Jill Biden was doing an event at the same time, so agents were drawn away from Trump.  Sources reported the SS couldn't adequately staff Trump's event because of the NATO conference, which ended two days earlier.  Perhaps those vulnerabilities were created merely out of political spite, because of Trump Derangement Syndrome, because they refused to do anything Trump wanted or from which he might benefit.  But if that's the case, we're back to the option of unbelievable SS incompetence.  They're supposed to be the world experts at predicating, identifying and dealing with risks.  They couldn't predict short-staffing Trump would create dangerous vulnerabilities?  And the hits just keep on coming.  On Laura Ingraham's July 19 show, she reported there was at least one drone in the air that day:  the assassin flew one, obviously doing the reconnaissance the SS wouldn't or couldn't.

Did Jill Biden get the Secret Service's 'A' team, leaving President Trump with just its farm team?  If the claims of the whistleblowers pan out, it means that Jill Biden was given a higher priority of security protection based on her being her, over the actual security needs of President Trump, who has been subject to endless numbers of crazies threatening him.  Jill would have hogged all the good security for her event with a low number of attendees, while Trump was out in the open pretty much by himself, given the absence of trained Secret Service agents and protection all around him.  The people he got were not Secret Service agents at all, but the equivalent to mall cops.  And that raises questions about the priorities of whoever was making the decision to grant Secret Service protection to both Jill Biden and President Trump at the same time, with Trump's team asking for it two weeks before Jill's team, but to nevertheless give Jill the professional team and Trump the improvised team.  Who was it — Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle — who by the wildest of coincidences was appointed to the post reportedly at the urging of Jill Biden?  That's cronyism right there, and if Cheatle chose to give Jill the best protection, and Trump the worst, then obviously, she grants protection based on political patronage, which is shocking.

Sen. Josh Hawley Says Trump Rally Security Was 'Unprepared And Inexperienced' DHS Personnel.  Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO) said on Friday that most of the security personnel at former President Donald Trump's Saturday campaign rally had been "unprepared and inexperienced" DHS personnel rather than actual members of the U.S. Secret Service.  Hawley shared a letter he was sending to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, demanding answers for a series of apparent lapses in security that ultimately allowed a gunman to attain access to an elevated position less than 200 yards from the rally stage where Trump was speaking.  Secret Service is part of DHS.  "Whistleblowers tell me that MOST of Trump's security detail working the event last Saturday were not even Secret Service.  DHS assigned unprepared and inexperienced personnel," Hawley said.  [Tweet]

Who Can Donald Trump Count On?  Donald Trump way very well be the next president of the United States.  But when the going inevitably gets tough, who can a future President Trump look to for support? [...] Their "impeachment investigation" of Joe Biden is the worst joke on the planet. (Apart from expecting women who shop in the Petite Section to be human shields for presidential candidates.) [...] As almost every American is now well aware, Trump certainly can't count on the Secret Service to have his back.  Barring a sudden head turn, Donald Trump would be dead.  The SS failed as badly as they can, only bad aim saved "the package."  It doesn't really matter if the Secret Service was wildly incompetent or possibly compromised and part of a plot.  Either way, Trump can't count on them and would be wise to hire his own security detail.  But, don't worry, all you government lovers out there, the troubling incident will be thoroughly investigated and reported on by Funny Business, Inc.  Yes, the fine folks who tried to sink Trump with the Russia Collusion Scam, The Mueller Report, and the FBI-manufactured Half-Whitmer kidnapping plot will look very carefully into the hard-to-figure-out forces of evil who almost killed Trump.

Influence, Negligence, and Coverups:  Cheatle's Leadership and the Near-Fatal Consequences for Trump.  Ongoing concerns about a pattern of mishaps, misconduct, and cover-ups within the United States Secret Service, particularly under the leadership of Director Kimberly Cheatle, face renewed and urgent scrutiny.  Cheatle, who worked on Jill Biden's security detail when Joe Biden was vice president and also worked on former Vice President Dick Cheney's detail in the early 2000s, was appointed head of the agency in August 2022.  Several incidents, raising real alarm, have happened on her watch in that short time.  A short list of controversies under Cheatle's leadership include:  an October 2022 motorcade for Vice President Kamala Harris being involved in a one-car accident on a closed roadway; an April 2023 incident in which an intoxicated man entered the home of National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan; an April 2024 incident in which armed special agent assigned to Vice President Harris's detail brawled with several other agents; and now, the most egregious, the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump last Saturday.

Trump Shooter Flew Drone Over Rally Site Just Hours Before Event.  In the latest indicator of a glaring lack of security surrounding the Pennsylvania rally where a bullet came within inches or less of killing former President Trump, sources familiar with the investigation say would-be assassin Thomas Crooks flew a drone over the event site just a few hours before he opened fire.  As first reported by the Wall Street Journal, Crooks used the overflight to record footage of the rally layout on the grounds of the Butler Farm Show.  His research of the facility began soon after the Trump campaign announced the event on July 3. He registered to attend on July 7, and soon thereafter, made the roundtrip drive of more than two hours from his Bethel Park home to recon the site in person.

Did Trump's Shooter Have Help?  Okay, so we are supposed to believe that a 20-year-old kid "who was turned away from his high school rifle club for being a 'comically bad' shot" and that had no military training whatsoever was able to pull this off all by himself?  We are being told that it was "a mistake" that the ideal location for a sniper to be located was left unguarded, and somehow Thomas Matthew Crooks was able to identify this oversight and position himself accordingly.  Just 150 yards away from where Donald Trump would be speaking, Crooks was able to climb on to a roof with a rifle and stay there for nearly half an hour before he finally started shooting at Trump.  Either this was a cataclysmic security failure, or Crooks had some help somewhere along the way. [...] Was this just a mistake, or was it done on purpose? [...] We need to identify who was supposed to be posted on that roof, and we need to determine exactly why that individual did not show up.  And why is the director of the agency being told to shut up about this?  Something does not smell right.

Trump's Resilience And The Inevitable Endpoint of Democrat Politics.  [Scroll down]  What's interesting is that, as every day goes by, we've found out more about the utterly absurd events that put Trump at risk.  We discovered that the DEI clown running the Secret Service diverted Trump's usual detail to protect her patron, Jill Biden, leaving Trump with the practice squad.  Worse, we learned that the building upon which the would-be assassin set himself didn't have a sniper on it because the roof was sloped — so a Secret Service sniper might fall off — and that authorities knew the killer was there for more than 20 minutes before the first shot rang out.  Agents were even in the building itself!  The most charitable assessment is that those in charge are utterly incompetent imbeciles.  A less charitable assessment would conclude that they were somehow complicit in the attack.  But, of course, if this were a set-up, it's just the latest attempt to destroy Trump.  The Democrats conspired to sabotage him beginning before he was president and never gave up.

Toning down the rhetoric solves nothing.  There was nothing surprising about the assassination attempt against Donald Trump.  To watch the scene play out in real time, it was possible to be struck by feelings of sadness or nausea.  Certainly, those in attendance at the rally in Butler, Pennsylvania will be dealing with the shellshock for the foreseeable future, and the loved ones of Corey Comperatore, the firefighter who died shielding his family from danger, will never be the same.  All this grief weighs heavily on the soul of America, but is it unexpected?  No.  The events that unfolded over this past weekend seemed the predictable result of a fracturing country.

Trump: conspiracy!  Conspiracy theories are like navels: everybody has one.  I've suggested, here and at my home blog two primary possibilities:  (1) The Secret Service, top to bottom, is incredibly, wildly incompetent.  Or (2) Elements of the Secret Service, whether without direction or with direction from higher authorities, have been creating vulnerabilities with plausible deniability — like sloped roofs?! — hoping someone would take advantage of those obvious vulnerabilities and kill Donald Trump. [...] How could a 20 year-old with no known tactical skills so completely defeat the Secret Service (SS), particularly when we now know multiple supposed SS snipers were in the building he mounted, who repeatedly saw him doing incredibly suspicious things like using a rangefinder as much as an hour before shots were fired?  That would seem to go somewhat beyond mere SS incompetence, doesn't it?

Another coincidence:
Investment Firm That Allegedly "Put Options" on 12 Million Trump Stocks Day Before Assassination Attempt Blames Filing Error.  Austin Private Wealth, LLC, a Texas-based financial planning company, is being scrutinized after a social media post went viral that claimed they had put options on as many as 12 million shares of DJT shares just one day before the assassination attempt on Donald Trump.  The investment firm denied the allegations and has now blamed a filing error for this controversial action. [...] According to the viral post, Austin Private Wealth's alleged put position on July 12 was the largest among those listed — the second-biggest was Citadel's 1.677 million short in May.  The filing date is July 12th, the day before the assassination attempt.  With reportedly around $1 billion in assets under management, this is allegedly by far the largest put placed by the firm, according to Finbold.

The Battle of the Miracles.  Why was there no security posted on the rooftop from which the would-be assassin of Donald Trump took his shot?  Not for any profound reason but because the Secret Service was afraid of its agents falling, according to Director Kimberly Cheatle.  "There's a safety factor that would be considered there that we wouldn't want to put somebody up on a sloped roof.  And so, the decision was made to secure the building, from inside."  It is part of a succession of marvels that occurred on July 13, 2024.  First, there was the rapid preparation of the alleged assassin, Thomas Crooks, a 20-year-old cook in a nursing home, for the task of killing an ex-president.  Trump's campaign rally in Butler, Pa., was advertised approximately ten days before the shooting. "Donald Trump will be holding a rally at the Butler County Farm Show grounds this Saturday ... Doors for Trump's appearance are set to open at 1 p.m.  Saturday; Trump himself is scheduled to speak at 5 p.m." reported Pittsburgh's WSA.  'In the 48 hours before he opened fire on former President Donald Trump, 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks made a series of stops," reported CNN. [...]

Alex Soros made what appeared to be threat to Trump on X; and USA Today 'fact checkers' dismissed it.  Days after an assassin's bullet came within an estimated centimeter from killing former (and future) President Donald Trump, let's revisit a "fact check" from USA Today from earlier this year.  Alex Soros, son of billionaire Marxist Trump hater George Soros tweeted out a picture of a bullet hole and a hand holding $47 in cash, a not so subtle intimation that Trump, the 45th and would be 47th president, should be shot, a post that given this past weekend's event should give pause.  [Tweet]

Joy Reid Is Saying Trump Was Never Hit By A Bullet And His Secret Service Detail Actually Killed Two People.  Joy Reid of MSNBC is now suggesting that Donald Trump was never hit by a bullet, and that his campaign and the Secret Service colluded to kill two people in a fake assassination attempt just so Trump could have a photo op.  Outrageous.  Insane.  Defamatory.  NBC must take Reid off the air, and Donald Trump should sue her, immediately.  [Video clip]

The AP Doggedly Looks for the Medical Records... of the Guy Not Running the Country.  [Scroll down]  As the media complex in this country continues to unravel before our eyes, the developments of Saturday's assassination attempt on Donald Trump continue to bedevil the press.  Of note has been the rise in the journalism ranks of those voices who — in defiance of years of them bleating about misinformation — are now entertaining the idea the attempt on Trump's life is either conspiratorial or, at the very least, being falsely dramatized by his campaign.  One of the latest theories percolating with some in the press is that Trump was not actually hit directly by a shooter, but he endured the effects of the glass shattering from the teleprompters.  Firstly, how is this in any way diminishing the point that there was an attempt on his life?!  If he was not actually struck by a sniper's bullet, then he was struck by glass from the teleprompter being shattered — by a sniper's bullet!  But the second item is more revealing.  There are those in the journalism environment forwarding this conspiracy without actually — get this — committing journalism.  If you even wanted to entertain this crackpot premise, would you not at least explore it as a possibility before blathering away?! All one needs to do is look at the footage from July 13, and what do you suppose it shows?  The teleprompters were intact after the episode.

Secret Service Cries Foul Over Criticism of DEI Selected Agents for Being DEI Selected Agents.  In the wake of Saturday's failed assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump, the US Secret Service is still unable to explain how the incident happened, but it is devoting a lot of effort to defending the Secret Service agents who appeared to be flummoxed and a lot less than competent as former President Trump was evacuated to the hospital.  [Advertisement]  [Video clip]  [Tweet] [...] Under the current director, the Secret Service has relentlessly pursued a goal of ensuring that 30% of protective detail agents are women.

Jasmine Crockett Really Posted This After Trump Was Nearly Assassinated.  When former and potentially future President Donald Trump was nearly assassinated during his rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, last week, reactions from both sides of the aisle came pouring in to wish him well.  Some Democrats, however, had to contend with the reality of how just months before they had introduced a bill to revoke Trump's Secret Service protection.  [Tweet]  Among those members was Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX).  Beyond a brief statement shared to her official account hours after the shooting, she also had a noteworthy post from her political account responding to calls for her to resign.  [Tweet]  In a lengthy and particularly defensive post, Crockett appears to double down on her belief that Trump does not deserve Secret Service protection.

The Secret Service Is a Clear and Present Threat to Democracy.  Until yesterday, I've said nothing about the Secret Service's obvious failure to protect former President Trump, who is only alive today not due to the Secret Service, but a fortuitous turn of the head.  He literally came within a millisecond of having his brains blown out.  Even more disturbing, he literally came within a millisecond of being assassinated by an assassin who was allowed to prowl the grounds of Trump's Saturday night rally for as long as one to three hours — hours — after he was identified as a suspicious character.  The reason I didn't say anything about this jaw-dropping security failure is because after something like this happens, we become a news cycle full of nonsense.  Well, now that we know what we know, it is obvious that the U.S. Secret Service is a clear and present danger to our democracy.

New Development in Trump Assassination Attempt Raises More Troubling Questions.  Every day seems to bring more troubling revelations about Saturday's attempted assassination of Donald Trump.  On Thursday morning, we learned that Thomas Matthew Crooks, the 20-year-old who tried to kill Trump, had hidden his rifle in advance, according to a Secret Service source speaking to Fox News.  The exact location where he concealed the weapon remains unclear.  By the time agents identified him on the roof, he was already armed.  "We went from a golf range finder to an AR-15, and now we have to fill in the gap," the source explained to Fox News.

Thomas Matthew Crooks Was A 'Trump Hater,' Former Classmate Says.  A former classmate of would-be Trump assassin Thomas Matthew Crooks described him as a "Trump hater" in an interview with Fox News.  "Thomas was a quiet kid unless there was something that he was passionate about.  Politics being one of them, he just did not like politicians, especially with the choices that we've had.  He did not like our politicians," said Vincent Taormina, a former classmate of Crooks, adding that this became especially apparent in 2016.

Sketchy Business Behind:  Thomas Matthew Crooks.  I'm having trouble believing the constructed narrative around President Trump's attempted assassin, Thomas Matthew Crooks.  First, I'm not talking about the ridiculously sketchy events that day.  I'm also not talking about the hours, days and weeks leading up to the shooting and the background of what he would be doing in those timeframes.  I'm talking about the actual personage of Thomas Mattew Crooks, the description of him, his identity, who he is.  According to what little data footprint is available and shared by media, Thomas Matthew Crooks, age 20, DOB: 09-20-2003, had no social media presence.  Let that sink in for a moment.  A 20-year-old in 2024 with no social media presence.  No TikTok, WhatsAp, Telegram, SnapChat, Insta, Twit, FB, gaming profile or Apple ID to correspond with his almost guaranteed iPhone, XBox or Playstation?  Sorry, not even close to plausible.  Second, it's Deja-vu all over again with the picture that is widely being used by media in stories about Matthew Crooks.  The [...] image [not shown here] is his freshman high school picture.  There are no recent or current pictures of 20-year-old Crooks taken by friends, family, or in this era, selfies?  And the picture on the left is the best image the media can come up with?

The Democrats' Jihad against Donald Trump.  Decades ago, leftists moved beyond civilized debate and the exchange of respectable ideas.  Even intraspecific discussions of the left quickly slide into mundane abuse, bizarre insults, and accusations of ignoring (or ignorance of) the latest DNC guidelines.  For decades, the left has attempted to normalize what has always been considered abnormal in developed countries: violence against political opponents.  Therefore, it is pretty natural that leftist airwaves were overwhelmed by a wave of regrets and lamentations, sorrows that the sniper missed, and complaining that the front sight was knocked off and, therefore, the assassin could not aim correctly.  There is a fervent craving for the next political targeted attack to achieve its desired outcome.  This chorus includes university professors, journalists, politicians, and Hollywood stars.  Many people honestly admit that it was the worst day of their lives because they did not witness Trump being assassinated.

Trump's would-be assassin Thomas Crooks wrote chilling online post foreshadowing rally shooting: report.  Would-be Donald Trump assassin Thomas Matthew Crooks wrote a chilling online message that hinted at sinister plans for the day he shot up the former president's Butler, Pa., rally over the weekend.  "July 13 will be my premiere, watch as it unfolds," the 20-year-old gunman allegedly wrote on Steam, a popular online platform where gamers communicate, Fox News reported.  The foreshadowing was revealed to US senators during a briefing by top law enforcement officials Wednesday.  Crooks, 20, also had images of the Republican presidential nominee as well as President Biden on his cellphone, and searched the dates of the Democratic National Convention and Trump's Pennsylvania rally — where he shot at the 45th president from a nearby rooftop, law enforcement sources told The [New York] Post.

Republican Senators John Barrasso and Marsha Blackburn Confront Secret Service Director at RNC and Chase Her Out of the Building Demanding Answers!.  This was a surreal and amazing incident that unfolded tonight at the Republican National Convention.  Kimberly Cheatle, the director of the Secret Service, was confronted by Republican senators John Barrasso of Wyoming and Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee, who were demanding answers about the failure of the Secret Service to protect Donald Trump.  Kim Cheatle tried to run away but the senators chased after her, demanding answers.  This is just stunning.  [Video clip]

There's Something Different About Trump's Secret Service at the RNC.  Former President Donald Trump made his first appearance at the Republican National Convention (RNC) flanked by Secret Service this week after surviving a would-be assassination.  His Secret Service team, however, looked drastically different from the agents that were guarding him during his Pennsylvania rally on Saturday when the shooting occurred.  As he entered the arena at the RNC, an all-male Secret Service team escorted the former president — different from the women who were tasked with protecting him during his rally.

Things Do Not Go Well When Secret Service Head Kim Cheatle Shows Up at the RNC.  The Republican National Convention has been a great event so far with everyone coming together in unity behind former President Donald Trump and Sen. JD Vance (R-OH) for the Republican ticket.  There have been fun and inspiring moments, including Trump's emotional entry into the hall just two days after Saturday's assassination attempt.  The things that have come out about the shooter and what the Secret Service knew — and when they knew it — have infuriated Americans.  The latest news is that the Secret Service had Thomas Matthew Crooks, the shooter, on their radar and were aware he was a threat at least ten minutes before Trump walked out on the stage — but they still let the former president walk out.  That was on top of the news that law enforcement had been aware of Crooks for some time beforehand.  Local law enforcement took pictures of him by 5:45, 26 minutes before the shooting.  And they had even taken another photo of him an hour earlier than that.  Yet nothing was done to stop him.  The Secret Service director earned a lot of mockery on X after she claimed that the roof that Crooks was on was "sloped," claiming that could have been a reason not to put an agent on it because of the "safety factor."  [Tweet]

The News About Trump's Secret Service Coverage Just Keeps Getting Worse.  Just when you thought the Secret Service story couldn't get any worse, it takes another turn.  It turns out that not only did the man who attempted to assassinate former President Trump visit the rally site in Butler, Pa., to plan his attack days in advance, but sixty-two minutes — nearly an hour [sic] — elapsed between the time he was identified as a suspicious person and he began firing.  And he was allowed to remain on the roof of the building for 20 minutes after being spotted by snipers.  When seconds count, the Secret Service took an hour to respond.  As a result, a brave family man is dead, and Trump came within millimeters of being JFK'd.  On Wednesday, members of the House and Senate were briefed by phone on the shooting at the Trump rally on Saturday.  On the call were Secret Service Director Kim Cheatle, Deputy Director Ron Rowe, FBI Director Chris Wray, and FBI Deputy Director Paul Abbate.

Secret Service was warned about, ID'd Thomas Crooks as a 'threat' 10 minutes before Trump took stage — but let ex-president go on anyway.  The Secret Service was warned about Thomas Matthew Crooks and designated him as a "threat" 10 minutes before former President Donald Trump took the stage, but allowed him to go on anyway, law enforcement sources told The [New York] Post.  The agency was also warned that there was a "character of suspicion" on the grounds more than an hour before Saturday's deadly shooting at Trump's campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, sources said.  Fox News first reported the new details, which emerged during a stunning Senate briefing by the Secret Service on Wednesday.

Butler Township Commissioner:  Local Police Were 'Strictly' Tasked with Traffic Control.  The local police officer who was hoisted up to the edge of the roof and spotted former President Donald Trump's would-be assassin is not to blame for the carnage that unfolded, Butler Township Commissioner Edward Natali said during an appearance on Breitbart News Daily, explaining that the mainstream media are not accurately telling the story of what actually happened.  The news has been inundated with stories of an unnamed local police officer who encountered the Thomas Crooks prior to the shooting, largely placing blame on that officer.  But Natali said that is not fair, nor is the story accurate.  He explained that seven local police officers — Butler Township Police Department officers — "were strictly there for traffic control."

Trump Shooter's Parents Alerted Law Enforcement Before Assassination Attempt.  A potentially explosive new development in the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump on Saturday has been revealed.  Fox News reports that the parents of 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks were "looking for him" and called law enforcement to alert them that he was missing.  This is the latest in a series of developments since the nearly successful assassination attempt that raises questions about the lax security and warnings law enforcement had in what was undoubtedly a preventable shooting that took the life of a hero firefighter, Corey Comperatore, who shielded his family from the gunfire.  Other reports indicate that Crooks meticulously planned his assassination attempt at the Trump rally.  Law enforcement sources revealed that bystanders observed Crooks behaving suspiciously with a rangefinder near the rally venue before Trump's appearance.  He also purchased ammunition and a ladder from Home Depot, suggesting detailed planning.

Second-Shooter Theory in Trump Assassination Attempt Gaining Steam.  As many Americans still grapple with the stunning Secret Service security failures that nearly led to the death of presidential frontrunner Donald Trump on Saturday, others are starting to consider the possibility that there was a second shooter with Thomas Matthew Crooks.  Headline USA was one of, if not the first, publication to report on a possible second shooter — citing an interview with a Trump rally attendee hours after the attack.  "What I've heard coming out is they feel there were two shooters, one on both sides.  They got the one on the tower, but the one on the right side they never got.  That's why they wanted us to leave immediately: because they thought there was still a shooter out there," said a Butler, Pennsylvania woman named Erin, who was in the front row at the rally.  [Tweet with video clip]

Whistleblowers Come Forward About What Caused Security Lapses at Trump Rally.  House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) revealed on Thursday that whistleblowers have come forward with information regarding the security failure at former President Donald Trump's campaign rally on July 13, where Trump was nearly killed by an assassin's bullet.  According to these whistleblowers, who provided details about security briefings from the Secret Service before the rally, both the agency and the FBI knew that federal officials had limited resources to cover the event in Butler, Pa., because staffing was stretched thin.  "Information provided to this Committee raises serious questions about the thoroughness of the security planning by local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies in support of President Trump's campaign rally," Jordan wrote in a letter to FBI Director Christopher Wray.  "Law enforcement overlooked a number of vulnerabilities prior to and during the event in Butler, Pennsylvania, allowing an assassin to shoot a President, murder an attendee, and critically wound two others."

They Let The President Step On The Stage Like A Sitting Duck.  Why?  His first since dodging an assassin's bullet, or as he's calling it, the greatest earache he's ever had.  And as the details keep dripping out, we have more questions.  Tonight, we're learning that the gunman was on law enforcement's radar for three hours, and the Secret Service designated Crooks a threat 10 minutes before Trump took the stage.  And the Secret Service never said, Mr. President, don't go out there.  They let Trump take the stage anyway.  And eight minutes later, he was shot.  Crooks first aroused suspicion at around three on Saturday, when security saw him with a rangefinder passing through the metal detectors.  Police say they had an eye on him until he disappeared.  Crooks was later spotted for a second time, this time by a sniper looking up at the roof, observing the building that he scaled and shot from.  This was radioed into the command center.  At one point, a sniper saw Crooks sit down and start scrolling through his phone, and investigators believe he may have actually had two phones.

Bongino: There Was Supposed to be Someone on the Roof But They "Didn't Show Up".  Former Secret Service agent Dan Bongino says an "unimpeachable source" told him there was supposed to be someone on the roof from where gunman Thomas Crooks shot at Trump but that they "didn't show up."  Bongino made the comments during an appearance on a podcast with Tucker Carlson at the RNC.  "So I was just showing Tucker some material from an unimpeachable source let's just say on the matter," said Bongino.  "That post, according to my source, that roof was supposed to be a police post, there was supposed to be someone there," he added.  [Tweet with video clip]

Why Does The Biden Admin Have '100 Percent Confidence' In Secret Service After Assassination Attempt?  No failure, regardless of how monumental or catastrophic, is ever so bad that President Joe Biden and his lieutenants won't try to spin it into some kind of success.  Because no Democrat will ever admit failure, there's never any accountability when things go unimaginably bad.  Witness the spectacle of Biden's Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on Monday defending U.S. Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle, who is facing a growing chorus of calls to resign, and declaring he has "100 percent" confidence in her and her agency in the wake of an assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump on Saturday at a rally in western Pennsylvania.  "What you saw on stage on Saturday, with respect to individuals putting their own lives at risk for the protection of another, is exactly what the American public should see every single day," he said — adding, in a note of absurd self-aggrandizement, "It is what I indeed do."  The president himself, in a Monday interview with NBC News, echoed Mayorkas' line about individual agents putting their lives on the line and then said it was an "open question" whether they did what they needed to do to prevent the assassination attempt.  But of course, they did not do what needed to be done, otherwise it wouldn't have happened.

Federal Snipers Overlooked Rooftop Sniper from 40 feet away could have just walked over to stop him.  Eyewitnesses from the ground who saw the shooter on the roof at the Butler Trump rally describe seeing snipers in the second story building of the AGR Building in Butler Township, Pennsylvania.  Speaking yesterday exclusively to the Gateway Pundit, the eyewitnesses said there is a lot more to the story that is not being reported by the mainstream media.  Though they could not get a clear look at them, they describe seeing one sniper in particular with a sleeve tattoo.  The building staff had been chasing off Trump supporters earlier that day, people who wanted to walk up on the property to the security fence to get a better shot of America's President.  Later, when the group tried again the security was nowhere to be found so they went onto the field.  While there, they witnessed a man crawling on the roof and for what ABC admits is at least twenty minutes, and witnesses say was at least thirty minutes, trying to warn security as to what was going on, but there were no police and no security on this entire side of the Trump rally.

The Protection of Divine Providence.  When the Founding Fathers mutually pledged their lives, fortunes, and sacred honor to each other, they did so "with a firm Reliance on the Protection of divine Providence." In signing the Declaration of Independence, each of those men was committing treason against the British Empire, and divine providence was the only thing standing between them and the gallows.  Divine providence was also the only thing standing between Donald Trump and death Saturday evening.  Had the would-be assassin's bullet been a fraction of an inch to the right, we would be having a much different conversation right now.  If the attempted murder of Donald Trump "is evidence of the reality of evil in the world," as Robert Jeffress, pastor of the First Baptist Church in Dallas, said, Trump's survival is evidence of divine providence.  Not everyone — not even all Christians — agrees on divine providence and what it means, but the belief of many Reformed Christians mirrors that of the Founders.  God did not simply create the universe in six days and walk away; He's involved in every aspect of His creation.  The belief in and understanding of providence is taken simply and at face value from the Bible.

Bungling of Trump Security Is Looking Worse by the Second.  Your expectations are too high if you thought that getting more details would reveal less blundering by former President Trump's security detail leading to his shooting on Saturday.  U.S. Senators, in a phone briefing by FBI Director Chris Wray and Secret Service chief Kimberly Cheatle, found that Trump's would-be killer, who murdered a man and critically wounded two others, had been under watch by security personnel for more than an hour before he took the lethal shots from a roof outside the hard security perimeter.  A reporter for Punchbowl News also reported that senators told him the assassin had been spotted and in the scopes of snipers for up to 20 minutes before he fired, and they still allowed the former leader of the free world to take the stage.  In all, 62 minutes after he was pinpointed as suspicious and 20 minutes after he was picked up by sniper teams, he fired the shots that nearly took out Trump.

Thomas Crooks Steam Account Appears To Be Fake — Has Trump-Putin Background.  If you like playing video games on their computers, phone or tablets (like me) you likely have a Steam account where you can buy and Steam your online playing with people all over the world.  It was reported earlier this morning that Crooks' Steam account is still up and he wrote in his bio "July 13th Will Be My Premier.  Watch As It All Unfolds."  His background on his page is a picture of Trump and a picture of Putin, once again showing that the media and Democrats are responsible for what happened this past weekend.  Earlier in the day it was reported that this was the killer's real Steam account.  Now it appears it's fake, made by some stupid kid trying to get publicity.  That's the world we live in.  [Tweet]

Secret Service Chief Confronted; 'Trump Shooter Was Known' Before Assassination Attempt.  Pressure was mounting on the U.S. Secret Service chief to resign after revelations that the gunman who shot and injured former U.S. President Donald J. Trump in an assassination attempt had been on the radar of security for three hours before the attack.  Police even took a picture of him one hour ahead of the assassination attempt that Trump miraculously survived after a bullet passed his right ear, sources said.  In video footage seen by Worthy News, U.S. senators confronted Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle Wednesday in an area of the Republican National Convention.  U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson and other top Republicans were calling for the resignation of Cheatle after revelations related to the alleged gunman, Thomas Matthew Crooks.

Secret Service 'Totally Responsible' for Trump Rally Security Design, Director Says.  The director of the Secret Service said the agency is responsible for the security plan at the Pennsylvania rally where a shooter fired upon former President Donald Trump.  "At that particular site, we divided up areas of responsibility, but the Secret Service is totally responsible for the design and implementation and the execution of the site," Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle told CNN on Tuesday night.  Her comments were made amid questions surrounding the agency's performance in securing the rally site on Saturday as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks opened fire from a rooftop about 400 feet away from the former president, striking him in the ear as well as killing one and injuring two others.  Secret Service snipers shot and killed Mr. Crooks soon after he fired on the rally.

Bookends:  JFK to Trump.  [Scroll down]  And so, on July 13, 2024 at a Trump rally, a 20-year-old media-indoctrinated loner somehow breached the Secret Service's security zone (our nation's elite multi-billion dollar unit tasked with one job on that day) and slipped past local and state police units, climbed on top of a building that was unguarded and provided a perfect sniper's perch in broad daylight with a rifle.  Somehow, though the assassin had been noticed as the suspect and was observed with range-finder field glasses up to 30 minutes before the speech, the president was still allowed to go on stage.  In those last fateful minutes as attendees screamed about a man with a gun on the roof and police confronted the shooter ineffectively and counter sniper teams began to attempt to sight-in on the killer, no one thought to get on the communication channels and get the president off the stage.  Somehow, during all those minutes of screaming "gun" at a presidential rally the secret service sat there frozen.  Somehow.

The societal forces creating people like the Butler, PA, shooter.  [Scroll down]  Thomas Crooks' finger may have been on the trigger, but Nancy Pelosi pulled it when she tore up Donald Trump's State of the Union speech on live national television.  Joe Biden pulled it when he "put Trump in the bullseye" and repeatedly said he is an existential threat to America.  Benny Thompson pulled it when he tried to have the former President's Secret Service protection removed, amply demonstrating exactly what he and his cohort wanted to see — a dead Donald Trump.  These monsters aren't finished, not by a long shot.  There are still cities to burn, a nation to fundamentally transform, and opposition political leaders to persecute, prosecute, and eliminate so they may retain power.  Assuming that God continues to protect Donald Trump, we'll see him returned to the White House where he belongs, in just a few short months.  But the leftists would rather burn America down and rule over the ashes than allow We the People to preserve and guide it as we see fit, with the leader of our choosing.

Trump attempt: why didn't they shoot?  Much has been written about the Secret Service's failure to secure the rooftop of the most obvious sniper hide in the area of Donald Trump.  There are two possible conclusions:  (1) From the lowest ranking agent present, to present supervisors, to the Director, the Secret Service (SS) is unbelievably incompetent.  Or (2) the SS at some level or levels, perhaps on its own or acting on direction from above, was doing all it could to create vulnerabilities with plausible deniability, vulnerabilities they hoped someone would exploit to kill Donald Trump.  A related possibility is they were creating those vulnerabilities while someone was simultaneously working to ensure someone exploited those vulnerabilities.  Sadly, we cannot trust government, particularly the DOJ/FBI to produce an honest investigation or truthfully report anything that might reflect badly on the [Biden] Administration.

Milley Effect:  Mayorkas declares confidence in Secret Service chief, pledges drawn-out 'independent review' into 'failure'.  Is there some Biden administration playbook on responding to complaints about flaming public incompetence?  Since these failures happen so often, most recently in the security failure leading up to the near-assasination of President Trump, it's positively strange how similar the responses are.  The latest instance is from Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, who's already shown himself to be a master at mission failure as well as worming his way out of it.  In an interview with CNN, he called the Secret Service's performance Saturday "a failure" and promised an 'independent review':  [Video clip]

A look at Biden's Secret Service chief as a DEI hire.  Kimberly Cheatle has been the Director of the Secret Service for less than two years.  She has had a 25-year career with the Service, holding multiple positions until she was appointed by President Biden as its Director in 2022.  Based on her biography, there are signs she was a diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) hire. [...] She became the first woman to serve as assistant Director of Protective Operations, a department tasked with protecting the president and dignitaries.  She left the Secret Service in 2019 and became the head of security for Pepsico with a salary of $1.2 million annually.  During a CBS News interview in May 2023, Cheatle stated the Secret Service, which had a 48% quit rate, needed to "attract diverse candidates and give opportunities to everybody in the workforce, particularly women."  She said she aims to have 30% women in the agency by 2030.  No one asked her why agents were quitting in such high numbers.  Insiders claim a culture change reflecting DEI mandates that pushed out agents near retirement and inculcated new agents into the religion of DEI.

Mayorkas Is Blocking Secret Service Director From Testifying.  The Department of Homeland Security has opened an investigation after the Secret Service catastrophically failed to protect former President Donald Trump at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania last weekend.  Trump narrowly escaped death after a bullet went through his ear while he was speaking at a lectern.  The shooter was positioned on an unsecured roof just 140 yards away from the stage.  The DHS Inspector General has also opened an investigation.  Republicans and Democrats on Capitol Hill have also launched separate investigations and have called on Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle to testify on Monday, July 22.  According to House Speaker Mike Johnson, DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas is attempting to block Cheatle from testifying.  Johnson called on Cheatle to resign during an interview with Fox News Wednesday morning.

Secret Service's Explanations for Security Failures Ahead of Trump Shooting Aren't Adding Up.  Secret Service's explanations for the security failures surrounding the assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump at a rally on Saturday aren't adding up, according to security experts and former Secret Service agents.  Emerging details highlight what seems to be a disconnect between local officials and Secret Service, while making it more apparent that there were major oversights.  Many key questions hinge on the responsibilities delegated to local police, who U.S. Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle confirmed during a Monday interview with ABC News were inside the building the shooter fired from, though nobody was stationed on the rooftop.  Cheatle explained a decision was made not to put anybody on top of the building because the "sloped" roof made it unsafe, but security experts and former Secret Service agents who spoke with the Daily Caller News Foundation emphasized not having someone on the roof was a "big failure" and didn't believe Cheatle's explanation was sufficient.

It almost was a funeral.  Republicans have not been this united in decades as their delegates convene in Milwaukee.  Everyone from Ron DeSantis to Nikki Haley to Vivek Ramaswamy to Babydog is behind our once and future president, Donald John Trump. [...] Yes, while we are enjoying a very good week, let us also bear in mind that we came too close to holding a wake and funeral for our president.  They want him dead and will stop at nothing now to accomplish that.  Their desire to destroy him did not die in Butler, Pennsylvania.  A funeral this week would have wrecked Republicans because there was no heir apparent.  The convention would have erupted into a civil war within the party, something Democrats wished to create by not tightly protecting Trump.  The orders came from the top — Jill Biden.  Make no mistake.  Jill is the reason that Kimberly Cheatle, former head of security for Cheetos (and other Pepsi products), got the job as Secret Service director and kept it.

Secret Service Was Aware Of The Potential Threat 10 Minutes Before Trump Took The Stage.  Secret Service was aware of the potential threat 10 minutes before Donald Trump took the stage in Pennsylvania but let him go out anyway.  The revelation was made during a Senate briefing today.  Sen. Marsha Blackburn says she was "appalled to learn the Secret Service knew about a threat prior to President Trump walking on stage."  "I have no confidence in the leadership of Director Cheatle and believe it is in the best interest of our nation if she steps down from her position."  [Video clip]

New Footage Shows The Trump Shooter Walking Around Suspiciously Before Climbing Roof And Shooting.  New footage shows Thomas Crooks suspiciously walking around before trying to assassinate Donald Trump.  A new report claims Crooks was spotted with his rangefinder by the USSS 3 hours before the rally.  Crooks was first noticed at 3 pm on Saturday in the security screening area with his rangefinder.  The USSS kept an eye on him but lost him when he is believed to have gone to his car to retrieve his rifle.  [Video clip]

Two Police Officers Alerted Secret Service That There Was An Armed Man On The Roof And They Didn't Pull Trump Off The Stage.  Two police officers phoned into a "blanket tactical channel" to alert that an armed individual was on the roof moments before Trump was shot at the PA rally.  Butler town manager Tom Knights says that the local police officer who "interrupted" Thomas Crooks was hanging from the roof after being lifted up by an officer.  Crooks then pointed his rifle at the officer which then forced him to fall.  The officer who fell and the officer who was holding him, radioed into a "blanket tactical channel" to notify that an armed individual was on the roof.  Knights said there has been no direct communication with members of the Secret Service to Butler officials.  [Video clip]

We can't trust politicized FBI to handle probe of Trump assassination bid.  President Biden on Sunday announced an FBI investigation into the Secret Service's astounding failure to protect Donald Trump at the rally in Butler, Pa., promising the probe would be "thorough and swift."  But it's folly to trust a federal law enforcement agency to obliterate interagency niceties by exposing all the foibles and flubs of fellow G-men.  Instead, we'll likely see a vintage DC investigation along these lines:  Please tell us if you screwed up.  Also, is there someone else we can blame?  Congress is jumping on the Secret Service's Butler debacle, asserting its own right to investigate the assassination bid.  House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer has directed Secret Service chief Kimberly Cheatle to "preserve all documents" tied to the Trump shooting, and Cheatle could take a high-profile hammering before Comer's committee next week.

Trump stock shorted heavily day before assassination attempt.  After an assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump, which sent shockwaves through the U.S. political landscape, Trump Media (NASDAQ: DJT) shares surged more than 60% in the early trading hour on Monday before retracing by 20% to the valuation of $36.89 at the latest close on July 16.  However, a fact bound to raise a few questions is that short positions against Truth Social stock doubled between July 1 and July 12, going from 7 to 15 million shares, in what was a record of shares shorted for DJT stock since its trading debut.  This surge indicates that individuals or large organizations anticipated a significant drop in the stock's value by July 15, a scenario that would likely have materialized had President Trump died in Pennsylvania.

Was there a second Trump shooter?  New acoustic evidence.  An audio forensic analysis by Catalin Grigoras, director of the National Center for Media Forensics at the University of Colorado in Denver, and Cole Whitecotton, a senior professional research associate at Media Forensics, based on audio recorded in Butler, Pennsylvania, may show the possibility of a second shooter.  According to these experts, "The first three shots were consistent with alleged weapon A, the next five were consistent with alleged weapon B and the final 'acoustic impulse' was emitted by a possible weapon C."  We know that one of those was the identified shooter and another was a Secret Service sniper.  We don't know to whom the "possible weapon C" might have belonged.  A second shooter?  The armed spotter on the government sniper team?

WaPo: Secret Service Knew the Building Was Not Secured.  We have entered the Twilight Zone.  Under no circumstances would I have imagined that the Secret Service, of all organizations, could fail this badly.  And by fail, I don't mean that somebody got through a security perimeter.  Even the best organizations can't prevent every conceivable scenario.  Stuff happens.  No, I mean something much, much worse: the Secret Service failed to do even a minimally competent job.  The Washington Post reports that the agency had been informed that local law enforcement did not have sufficient resources to secure the building from which the shooter took his murderous shots.  Yet, nothing was done to ensure that the most obvious vantage point from which to assassinate Trump was secured.  [Tweet]

Dan Bongino Slams Secret Service for Ignoring Threats to Trump's Life.  Former Secret Service agent Dan Bongino tore into his former employer on Tuesday for security failures at the Pennsylvania campaign rally where an attempted assassin shot former President Donald Trump late Saturday afternoon.  Bongino, now a nationally syndicated radio talk-show host, sat down with The Daily Signal on Tuesday at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, where he called for "mass resignations" from the Secret Service following the shooting. [...] "The management right now is an abomination," he added, "and what I'm afraid of is, even if you get a bunch of good rank-and-file investigators who find out something serious — I don't what that is or could be; I don't put out stuff I can't back up.  I don't trust [FBI Director] Christopher Wray to tell people the truth.  I just don't."  [Tweet with video clip]

WPXI exclusive photos show cell phone, transmitter found next to Trump shooter's body.  Channel 11 News exclusively confirmed Tuesday that Thomas Crooks was spotted by police hanging around the American Glass Research complex more than an hour before the assassination attempt of former President Donald Trump.  Multiple law enforcement sources described the security operation in detail Tuesday, directly contradicting public statements from the U.S. Secret Service Director.  According to law enforcement sources in multiple counties in western Pennsylvania, there were two sniper teams set up near the building where Thomas Crooks fired from Saturday evening.  However, in direct contrast to comments made by Secret Service director Kimberly Cheatle, there were no local police in the same building where Crooks made it on the roof.  Channel 11's Nicole Ford also obtained exclusive photos showing the cell phone and transmitter device found next to Crooks moments after a Secret Service sniper shot and killed him.

The left's lies are now exposed to the non-political general public.  Numerous readers commenting on yesterday's column noted quite rightly that many Democrats (both in and out of the party) are not going to change, that their hate of Republicans and Trump is too ingrained, that they will simply pause expressing that hate for a few weeks and then begin anew.  Some leftists have not even waited that long, as was seen during a Jack Black concert in Australia one day after the assassination attack, when one member of the band, Kyle Gass, publicly expressed disappointment that Trump was not murdered.  As I predicted yesterday, however, there are now immediate consequences for such ugly comments.  Gass's agent immediately dumped him, and Black was forced to cancel the rest of the band's tour.  Among the political class, however, the consequences of having such ugly opinions will not be felt as badly.  It is true that among partisan Democrats the desire to see Trump die will still be whispered.  It is true that Democrats will still likely demonize him in public, though initially more gently and later with more nuance.

The Trump shooting: Inexplicable facts lead to a plethora of theories.  The initial story was a simple one:  A lone gunman sneaked onto a roof and managed to get off some shots, wounding three (including President Trump) and killing one, before a Secret Service agent took him out with a perfect headshot.  That sounded reasonable.  However, in the ensuing time, a lot of strange — I mean really strange — facts have emerged.  Some of the most obvious ones that I can list off the top of my head are as follows:
  •   The gunman, who graduated from high school only two or three years ago, was known then as a terrible shot.
  •   The gunman had no social media presence at all, a striking anomaly today.
  •   People repeatedly warned the police that they saw a man with a gun on a shed near Trump's platform, but neither the police nor the USSS reacted.
  •   The USSS had been aware of the shooter's bizarre behavior for at least 30 minutes before the shooting itself but did nothing.
  •   Security allowed a ladder to be positioned at the shed without responding to that fact.
  •   Snipers had the shooter in their sights before he shot anyone.
  •   The administration kept Trump's USSS team understaffed.
  •   Trump's existing team, which had presumably learned to work together, was suddenly disassembled so that Jill could make an appearance at the same time as Trump's rally.
  •   The USSS put the shed outside of its security perimeter even though (a) it was 125 yards away from Trump, which would work even for a mediocre marksman, and (b) it had a perfect sightline to Trump.
  •   USSS Director Kimberley Cheatle said agents weren't actually on the shed because the roof was sloped.  Using passive voice, she explained, "the decision was made to secure the building from the inside."
  •   As Cheatle noted, there were USSS agents inside the shed, even though the roof was the perfect firing platform.
  •   The feds were instantly able to identify the shooter by his DNA, which is peculiar because he'd never been arrested, so there's no reason that his DNA would have been in law enforcement records.
  •   Despite the above cascades of failures, Director Cheatle has not been fired and has refused to quit.  That in itself is truly weird.
As I said, that's just the weirdness off the top of my head.  I know there's more.

FBI: Shooter's Phone Has "No Clues" About Motive.  I was complaining on social media yesterday, perhaps unfairly, about the amount of time it's been taking the FBI to crack into the phone that belonged to deceased gunman Thomas Crooks.  After all, they were able to crack the phones of everyone that was within 50 miles of the Capitol on January 6, 2001.  What would make this kid's phone such a mystery?  Well, last night they reportedly accomplished the task.  The Bureau accessed the contents of Crooks' phone, but the search supposedly came up dry.  They're saying that the records they found contained "no tips" as to the shooter's motive or any information suggesting he was in contact with anyone else about his plans.  The search now moves to the killer's laptop.  Let's hope they have better luck there.

The Editor says...
Where is the shooter's cell phone now?  Has it been scrubbed?  Has it been incinerated?  Does anyone really think that a guy who hated President Trump enough to kill him left no clues at all on his phone?  By now, the FBI would know every place that phone has been since the shooter started carrying it with him.  No clues there?  No browsing history?  No incoming calls from Flowers By Irene?

Tucker Carlson Says 'Not Crazy' to Think 'It Wasn't Just a Lone Gunman'.  Two days after the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump, political commentator Tucker Carlson said, "It's not crazy to think that there was something there; it was an effort to kill Trump, it wasn't just a lone gunman."  Trump's assailant crawled onto a nearby rooftop Saturday night while Trump was on stage at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, 33 miles north of Pittsburgh.  The shooter fired multiple shots, striking Trump in the right ear.  It remains unclear how the gunman, who was killed, was not seen and neutralized by the Secret Service or other authorities prior to opening fire.

US Reportedly Received Intel Of Iranian Plot To Assassinate Trump.  U.S. authorities reportedly received intelligence ahead of an assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump over the weekend that Iran was reportedly plotting to kill him, CNN reported on Tuesday.  The intelligence, provided to U.S. authorities by a human source, prompted the Secret Service to ramp up protections for the former president in the weeks leading up to the shooting, several people briefed on the matter told CNN.  White House National Security spokeswoman Adrienne Watson told The New York Times that there is no known connection between the alleged Iranian plot and the assassination attempt against Trump by Thomas Matthew Crooks, the 20-year-old gunman who was killed by U.S. forces swiftly after he began opening fire on Trump and the crowd on Saturday.  Trump was shot and injured by a gunman at a rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday in an assassination attempt that has been decried by critics as a failure by the Secret Service to ensure security at the event.

Dan Bongino Says An Unimpeachable Source Tells Him Someone From Security Was Supposed To Be On The Trump Sniper Roof But Never Showed Up.  Dan Bongino says an "unimpeachable source" tells him that someone was supposed to be on the roof where Thomas Crooks shot from but "didn't show up."  Bongino also claimed that the Biden admin is telling the USSS director to keep her mouth shut if she wants to keep her job.  "According to my source, that roof was supposed to be a police post... [there] was so supposed to be someone there."  "They're now making up excuses saying the pitch of the roof.  My source says to me that no one knows why the post didn't show up."  [Video clip]

Is FBI Already Stonewalling on the Investigation into the Assassination Attempt?  The lack of transparency during prior FBI investigations has raised concerns among the public and media about the FBI's ability to this time conduct a thorough and responsible investigation, especially in light the "lawfare" that has been used against the former President.  The shooting is being treated as an "attempted assassination" and act of domestic terrorism and the Director of the Secret Service, Kimberly Cheatle, is scheduled to testify before a House Oversight Committee on July 22nd.  The purpose of the hearing is to provide insight into how the twenty-year old was able to commit the assassination attempt, resulting in the former President being wounded, a fellow American dead and two others seriously injured.  This attack was deadly serious, and the information needed to satisfy the American public that this attack was, in fact, a random lone gunman, must be convincing.

Report: 'Three Counter-Snipers' Were In Building Trump Shooter Used, Took Photos Of Him.  Three law enforcement officers were stationed inside the building where a gunman shot former President Donald Trump at a Pennsylvania rally Saturday.  Two days after the failed assassination attempt, BeaverCountian.com reported that an officer confirmed "there were three counter-snipers" stationed underneath the same roof where the assailant blew off part of President Trump's right ear.  Officers notified the "command center" about the threat before the gunman fatally shot a rallygoer and injured three others, including the Republican presidential nominee.  "A Beaver County police officer warned a command center of seeing a man with a rangefinder before former President Donald Trump was shot on Saturday," reported the website.  "The officer had also warned the man was scoping out the roof of the building he was stationed in as a counter-sniper, and that the man returned with a backpack before ultimately scaling the building."  According to CBS, law enforcement even took a picture of him before the gunfire.

Biden's Team Deliberately Kneecapped Trump's Security To Allow An Assassination Attempt.  With Trump's security detail understaffed, under-resourced, and stretched to its limits, Biden's security regime reportedly diverted even more resources to a hastily planned Jill Biden event that just happened to be in the area.  Biden's security regime then ordered the most obvious assassination perch in the entire area to remain outside the main security perimeter.  Furthermore, Biden's Secret Service director ordered law enforcement and counter-snipers OFF the roof the assassin used.  If that weren't enough, Biden's security regime also refused to block the line of sight from the assassin's perch to Trump's location.  When law enforcement radioed in a suspicious person using a laser range finder at the building and even took photos of him, nothing was done to detain the assassin.  The assassin was so obviously a threat that bystanders at the event begged law enforcement to stop him, but nothing happened.  And even as snipers on the roof near Trump saw a gunman on the other roof, Biden's security regime refused to have agents immediately surround Trump or remove him from the stage to protect him from being shot. [...] And when you add in how little information we've been given about the shooter — apparently the only person on Earth not on the internet — you begin to wonder if maybe a group of people at a different three-letter agency might have been working on a parallel track to find and encourage people to take action against Trump at the very same time he was kept vulnerable by Biden's regime.

Insurrections and the Leviathan State.  For most of the past century, but especially in recent decades, Democratic operatives have engineered a method of illegal government expansion in which they would populate government bureaucracies and the judiciary with technocrats who would routinely exceed their agencies' legal authority, growing the power and destructive capacity of the regulatory state far beyond what the Constitution allows, even far beyond what the congressional intent had been when creating these agencies, inflicting upon America a tyrannical and unpredictable government by people and ideology, rather than a constitutional government limited by written law.  And in the most chilling, recent example, we have learned that the DEI-inspired head of the Secret Service has intentionally broken the practice of past campaign seasons, in stubbornly refusing to provide adequate protection for either the Trump or RFK Jr. campaigns for the presidency — a willful choice that enabled an unobstructed Butler rooftop, just 400 feet from President Trump, to be left unguarded during a Pennsylvania rally, accessible by an amateur sniper who came within a centimeter of assassinating the former (and likely future) President on July 13, 2024.

Why We'll Never Know What Really Happened in Butler, PA.  [Scroll down]  If this is like any previous governmental foul-ups, we can expect hearings, investigations, and commissions that will actually serve to hide the official errors or even malicious intent by some in the government.  That's what government does no matter who is in office: protect itself from actual scrutiny and resist being exposed as incompetent or worse.  But what if there was a genuine investigation that actually revealed the truth about what happened at the Trump rally over the weekend?  Could we rely on the mainstream media to even report it?  This is the same media that, after Trump was clearly shot on live television, reported "Trump escorted away after loud noises at PA rally."  (Washington Post).  And "Secret Service rushes Trump offstage after he falls at rally."  (CNN).  This is the same mainstream media that has been comparing Donald Trump to Hitler for years, and now pretends to be shocked that their vile rhetoric ended up in violence.  There is a good reason why the mainstream media is regarded by the American public with record levels of contempt.

Why Trump's Raised Fist After Surviving Assassination Attempt Is Triggering the Liberal Media.  On July 13, Donald Trump survived an assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania.  It led to an iconic image of the former president, who had just escaped death from a would-be assassin, perched less than 200 yards from the stage, raising his fist in defiance, face bloody, telling his supporters to "fight." It's become a viral sensation.  It's also made some media photographers and editors queasy because — get this — it could hurt Biden and give "free PR" to Trump.

A PsyWar Assassination Attempt.  [Scroll down]  "X" star DC_Draino posts what he claims is scripting guidance for corporate mockingbird media.  The provenance is unknown; who knows if it's real, but the subsequent "approved narrative" closely adheres to what he has posted.  [Illustration]  [More Tweets]  CNN tried to frame the assassination attempt as Trump falling and Secret Service catching him.  Fabricating a false equivalency between Biden repeatedly stumbling and falling and Trump reacting to an attempt on his life.  The Mockingbird media are disgusting.

You May Think You Hate the Media, But You Can't Hate It Enough, Chapter 12,186.  When I first started seeing clueless mainstream media headlines pop up on Twitter Saturday afternoon I assumed most of them were fakes, attempts at bad satire, or the Babylon Bee trying to get ahead of things.  But no — these are real:  [Screenshots]

Leftist Media Downplays Trump Assassination Attempt.  Elements of the international media did an impeccable job of covering the attempted assassination of former U.S. president Donald Trump — an attack which also saw one person killed and two seriously injured.  To his credit, the BBC's senior North America correspondent Gary O'Donoghue conducted an insightful on-the-ground interview with a witness shortly after the gunshots rang out.  [Tweet with video clip]  Many have also praised the first-class photographers who potentially risked their lives to secure instantly iconic images that will be printed in the history books.  [Tweets]  Other elements acted shamefully, as readers would expect them too — either downplaying the seriousness of the event or putting a portion of the blame on Trump himself.  Even after footage had emerged which made it quite clear — even if on a very basic level — what had happened, various mainstream media publications pumped out such euphemistic headlines as these:
  CNN: "Secret Service Rushes Trump Off Stage After He Falls at Rally"
  USA Today: "Trump Removed From Stage by Secret Service After Loud Noises Startles Former President, Crowd"
  Associated Press: "Donald Trump Has Been Escorted Off The Stage During A Rally After Loud Noises Ring Out In The Crowd"
These and other headlines prompted recent Trump-backer Elon Musk to criticise the "legacy media" as "a pure propaganda machine."  [Tweet]

If True, DHS Secretary Mayorkas Must Answer This Question After Trump's Assassination Attempt.  There is going to be a mountain of questions for the U.S. Secret Service regarding the assassination attempt on Donald Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13. At a rally, the former president missed getting killed by millimeters, with him turning his head, which caused the bullet to graze his right ear instead.  Is Trump being adequately protected?  [Tweet]  Obviously, that's not the case, given how close the sniper got to Trump's stage.  The Federalist is reporting that for quite some time, Trump's security detail has requested more resources but were denied by Biden's Department of Homeland Security:  [Tweet]  "DHS, which oversees Secret Service protective detail, 'wasn't responsive to those requests' for more resources, the source said.  Was Biden's regime behind the attack, or did it deliberately do everything it could to allow it to happen?" asked Sean Davis, CEO of The Federalist.

Assassination Prep:  How DNC officials and Establishment figures worked to make Trump a target.  After the shocking assassination attempt on Trump, it's tempting to single out low-level losers like the Lincoln Project's Rick Wilson, who called for people to "go out and put a bullet in Donald Trump" in 2023. Make no mistake, these disgusting cowards are fully deserving of every ounce of blame and scorn they're currently receiving.  But it's also worth noting that although people like Wilson may be among the most obvious candidates for creating the environment that led up to the assassination attempt on President Trump, they're not the most dangerous.  That title belongs to the high-level democrat operatives and establishment DNC leaders.

Trump Requested Heightened Security Resources From Secret Service for Weeks, Was Denied.  Radio host, conservative commentator, and former Secret Service agent Dan Bongino condemned the lax tactics of Donald Trump's Secret Service security detail after an assassination attempt Saturday afternoon and the murder of a rally attendee.  Bongino laid particular blame at the feet of United States Secret Service Director Kim Cheatle.  [Tweet]  At the time Bongino made these allegations they had not been corroborated by anyone else, but Bongino is not known for talking out the side of his neck or making blanket accusations in order to incite his followers or garner clicks.  Bongino used to be a secret service agent.  So, if he alludes to an inside source supplying him with information, it is well worth paying attention to.  [Tweet]

The Secret Service is under increased scrutiny.  Social media users took to X on Saturday after former President Trump survived an assassination attempt at an outdoor rally in rural Pennsylvania.  The consensus is that this was the result of a massive Secret Service failure.  Some, such as Sean Davis from The Federalist, are reporting that the Biden administration has been hamstringing Trump's Secret Service detail by not giving it the resources necessary to keep the former president safe.  Others are positing that something far more malevolent is going on.  Here's a roundup of the reporting and speculation on the incident that shook the nation.

Nine House Democrats tried to nix Secret Service protection for Trump before assassination attempt.  Nine Democrats in the U.S. House sought to strip former President Donald Trump of his Secret Service detail just months before an assassination attempt was made against him on Saturday.  After Trump survived the shooting, one of their staffers reportedly said in a Facebook post the shooter needed shooting lessons so he wouldn't "miss the next time."  The post has since been deleted and the staffer has been fired.  Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., who chaired the select committee to investigate the Jan. 6 attacks, introduced a bill in April to strip Trump of his Secret Service detail.  The bill was introduced on April 19 and has gone nowhere in the Republican-controlled House.

Biden White House Mysteriously Denied More Secret Service Protection Before Assassination Attempt.  [Scroll down]  Following the shooting, Rep. James Comer (R-KY) relayed his concerns and solidarity, extending his prayers to Trump and the other victims.  Comer stressed the necessity of understanding the circumstances that led to such a security lapse, stating, "Political violence in all forms is un-American and unacceptable."  Comer also called for Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle to appear before a hearing, indicating the gravity of the oversight committee's inquiry into the protection measures in place for Trump.  Rep. Mike Waltz (R-FL) claimed that there had been repeated requests for enhanced Secret Service protection for Trump, which were allegedly denied by Secretary Mayorkas.  If true, the allegation suggests a possible neglect of duty at high levels of government, raising questions about the motives and decision-making processes that potentially left a former president vulnerable to such a deadly threat.

GOP Rep. Cloud:  Homeland Security Agency Is Interfering in House's Assassination Investigation.  The agency run by impeached migration czar Alejandro Mayorkas is interfering with the House's investigation into the attempted murder of President Donald Trump, Rep. Michael Cloud (R-Texas), told Breitbart News.  The shooting was "an epic failure," Cloud told Breitbart News during an interview at the GOP's national convention, adding, "It is very concerning that right off the bat, we see DHS [Mayorkas' Department of Homeland Security] obfuscating as opposed to being transparent.  This should be something that, regardless of party, we don't allow this kind of thing in our country."  The Secret Service agency is part of Mayorkas's DHS.  It is run by sociology graduate Kimberly Cheatle.

The Secret Service Story is Starting to Stink.  We're now learning, among other things, that Trump's Secret Service detail was made up of second- and third-stringers, with more experienced agents having been pulled away to protect "Dr." Jill Biden, and that even the Secret Service director is a "DEI" ("Diversity, Equity, Inclusion") hire, put in place under a doctrine that amounts to "Affirmative Action on steroids," replacing meritocracy with "qualifications" based on identity politics.  Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle, interviewed amid calls for her resignation, appears to be in full "CYA" mode in justifying her agency's failures.  Her remarks suggest that she prioritized her agents' safety to a ridiculous degree over the life of Donald Trump. [...] Lots of information is now surfacing that points to negligence on the part of the Secret Service.  But one must wonder if the people involved were negligent in allowing the attempt to occur or if there's a much bigger, more insidious "Deep State" picture here, and their actual negligence was in the failure to ensure that the sniper's mission was successfully completed.  Any number of aspects of the attempted assassination of Donald Trump, as it's being reported and "explained," are beginning to stink.

It Gets Worse — Three Security Detail Snipers Were Inside Building Used by Trump Shooter — Secret Service Director Says Roof Was too Slopey for Sniper Safety.  It was odd on that first night when Joe Biden announced the FBI would be investigating the assassination attempt of Donald Trump, only a few hours after the failed shooting.  How did the people around Biden immediately know something went wrong?  Then things got even more sketchy when police reported the assassin, Thomas Matthew Crooks, was spotted and photographed acting suspiciously 30 minutes before the attempted assassination.  Unfortunately, they "lost track" of him.  To the common-sense observer, Crooks had to be wandering around the venue for quite a while.  I mean, the scheduled start time for the speech was originally 5:00 pm, yet President Trump didn't get started until an hour later 6 pm.  Obviously, Thomas Crooks would have been doing something for an hour while he waited.  What was it?

Trump Shooting Was a Setup?  CNN Host Panics, Tries to Shut Up Army Sniper After Stunning Take.  A former Army sniper made a CNN host queasy by suggesting that the possibility of a setup in Saturday's attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump should not be automatically ruled out.  Republican Rep. Cory Mills of Florida, a former Army sniper, noted that all of what appear to have been errors that took place Saturday could be something else.  "Bottom line is that this is massive negligence to the point of me speculating on what was intentional and what wasn't," Mills had said Sunday, according to Real Clear Politics.  On Monday, after CNN host Kate Bolduan asked about that comment, Mills said a thorough investigation is needed to settle the issue.  [Tweet with video clip]

Physically unfit, under-qualified agents with a diversity-obsessed boss chosen by Dr Jill Biden!  [Scroll down]  There was even more chaos by the time they reached Trump's SUV.  Far from the efficient, speedy exit all those years ago outside the Washington Hilton, it took too long to get him in the vehicle and even longer for it to depart.  Agents were darting about, some running in circles, clearly not sure what to do.  One, overweight and looking panicked, pointed her gun all over the place.  Another had trouble holstering her pistol.  A third found time to put on her sunglasses and straighten her jacket.  Perhaps it was just a coincidence — but when Trump entered the Republican National Convention hall in Milwaukee on Monday night, his security detail was made up almost exclusively of tall, chunky men. [...] But what happened after Trump was shot is the least of its problems.  How the shooter ever managed to get any shots off in the first place has the makings of the biggest crisis of modern times for the Secret Service.

Assassination Attempt on Trump — Are "Prescribed" Psychotic Drugs Responsible?  The last few days I can only describe as "high stake" news — at an unbelievable level.  There have been scenes played out in the news of the former POTUS literally dodging a bullet that without divine intervention should have killed him.  Everyone was captivated by the news media and the endless videos, first-hand witness reports and conspiracy theories.  There is little information being provided on the 20-year-old shooter other than he was a loner and bullied in school.  His parents are reportedly social workers.  I am patiently waiting to hear if the shooter was prescribed any central nervous system stimulants such as Adderall or Ritalin to deal with his school and social issues.

The Editor says...
Red herring alert!  Drugs or no drugs, he should not have been in position for as long as he was without being shot.  Drugs or no drugs, he was responsible for his own actions.  The main issue here is not whether this weasel was on drugs or not.  The main issue is why the police and the Secret Service stood by for several minutes and let him crawl into position with a rifle at hand, and nobody shot him until after he opened fire.

The Trump Shooting:  So Many Questions.  [Scroll down]  Mainstream accounts of "what we know about" Crooks tells us that he had donated to a "progressive" PAC.  Coming from one of those affluent, predominately White areas that are a hotbed of potential lone assassins, his parents were both said to be licensed behavioral care counselors.  You would think no would could spot a brewing lone nut better than licensed counselors.  Evidently, he was bullied quite a bit in school, like all those alleged school shooters.  A classmate in fact claimed he was "bullied almost every day."  But unlike most victims of bullying, Crooks regularly wore hunting outfits to school.  And like so many guilty and/or framed criminals before him, Crooks was described as a "loner" and an "outcast."  You'd think that at least one popular extrovert would consider assassinating someone.

The Editor says...
Here's another red herring:  We're supposed to feel sorry for the shooter because he was bullied.  That's not the main issue.

Secret Service Director: 'I Will Not Resign'.  ABC got an exclusive interview with U.S. Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle, which you have to admit was a good "get."  What wasn't good at all was her responses to the questions swirling around the Secret Service's inability to prevent an assassin from taking a series of shots at a former president and current presidential candidate from a bit more than a football field away.  [Tweet]  As is so often the case in the Biden Administration, no level of failure results in accountability.  "The buck stops with me" is the equivalent of a grunt, not a statement of responsibility.  Cheatle mouths the words but refuses to step down despite being in charge of an organization that utterly failed to do its job.

Jill Biden Orchestrated Kimberly Cheatle Heading the Secret Service, Now Everyone Is Doubling Down.  How exactly did Kimberly Cheatle rise the lead the United States Secret Service?  A new report points the finger at Jill Biden, stating that she and her top advisor pushed for the appointment.  That decision culminated in an attempted assassination of Donald Trump on Saturday.  The former president was shot in the ear, narrowly avoiding death while a chaotic and clumsy response from the Secret Service followed.  It was a disastrous event for an agency with a zero-fail mission. [...] Cheatle is a strong supporter of DEI, having pledged for the Secret Service to be 30 percent female by 2030 as part of a "diversity" push.  Unmentioned was why someone's sex is more important than simply hiring the most capable people available, and that includes physical stature given the job at hand.  That the Bidens would prioritize box-checking over qualifications isn't surprising.  What's somewhat surprising is just how defiant Cheatle has been publicly since the assassination attempt.  After the shooting, she gave an interview in which she pointedly refused to even consider resigning.

Police Spotted Trump Rally Shooter Nearly a Half Hour Before Shots, and It Gets Worse.  I wrote earlier about a great video compilation from MilkBarTV that showed the Trump assassination attempt from a variety of angles, and it also showed there were almost two minutes after people spotted him before the shots rang out.  I also mentioned the witness who told the BBC he thought it was even longer than that.  But now, according to the local news, Nicole Ford with WPXI, it is so much worse than just a couple of minutes — they spotted the shooter on the roof nearly a half hour before the shooting. [...] It's just insane, and the Secret Service leadership needs to answer for those failures.  The agents who were right on Trump acted bravely, but the advance team missed securing the roof.

Top Sniper Exposes the Biggest Holes in the Trump Shooting Narrative.  Dallas Alexander was part of the special operations unit that broke the world record for the longest confirmed sniper kill.  He has also worked VIP protection at the highest levels.  Now, he tells Glenn why he believes Trump's failed assassin didn't act alone: "someone on the 'inside' had to have helped with this."  Dallas also explains how difficult this shot would be to make and why he has a hard time believing the rooftop used by the killer wasn't marked by the Secret Service:  "[Even] children who play Call of Duty or go to paintball would know that that roof is the most important position to secure, period."

Former Special Forces Sniper Breaks Down Why He Thinks It Was A Deep State Hit On Trump This Weekend.  This former Green Beret, Special Forces sniper breaks down why he thinks the attempted assassination of Donald Trump was a coordinated hit by the deep state.  [Video clip]

The Central Question Facing the Secret Service.  Dominic wrote on the long list of failures by the U.S. Secret Service over recent decades, but when it comes to the assassination attempt on Donald Trump, one question in particular rises above them all:  How did they allow a shooter to get on a roof that was in striking distance of Trump?  There are other questions that have been raised.  Why did the counter-sniper team appear to wait until the shooter fired at Trump before taking him out?  Why didn't police and Secret Service react more quickly to numerous people who were shouting at them for minutes that a gunman was crawling on a nearby roof?  Why didn't they whisk Trump off the stage more quickly, given that there could have been a second assassin?

Alleged Trump shooter spotted by law enforcement nearly 30 minutes before shots fired, sources say.  Channel 11 News uncovered dramatic new details Monday in the moments leading up to the assassination attempt on former president Donald Trump.  According to multiple law enforcement sources, Thomas Crooks was spotted by law enforcement on a roof nearly 30 minutes before shots were fired that injured Trump, killed a former fire chief and injured two others in the crowd.  Channel 11's Nicole Ford confirmed that Beaver County's ESU team had eight members at the rally, including snipers and spotters.  According to Ford's sources, one of them noticed a suspicious man on a roof near the rally at 5:45 p.m., called it in and took a picture of the person.  We have learned from our sources the person in that picture is Thomas Crooks.  We're told it's not clear if Crooks had a gun with him at that point.

The Editor says...
In regard to that last sentence:  Common sense would tell you that unless the shooter made more than one trip onto the roof, he had a rifle with him the first time he was spotted.  When the news media script includes "we're told" or "it's not clear," those are weasel words to protect their plausible deniability, and those words act as insulators between the TV station and their assertions, in case they're wrong.

Attack on Trump:  Severe Security Blunders To Be Investigated.  Republican lawmakers are launching investigations into the serious security blunders that preceded the assassination attempt against former U.S. President Donald Trump on Saturday, July 13th.  These investigations will focus on how the shooter was able to carry out his actions despite being detected early on, and how the Security Service failed to provide adequate protection for Trump.

Trump Shooter Was Seen on Roof 30 Minutes Prior to Shots.  As more investigative details of the attempted Trump assassination surface, some alarming information is surfacing.

Bongino Discusses Secret Service Failure as AP Reports Local Police Officer Backed Down from Shooter.  Earlier this morning [7/14/2024] former Secret Service Agent Dan Bongino gave his opinion about the Secret Service almost unfathomable drop in security protocol that allowed a gunman with a rifle to climb atop a building a mere 130 yards away from President Trump.  Having some very specific insight into protection detail protocol, Bongino gives a unique perspective on what might have gone wrong.  [Video clip]  Making matters worse, the FBI are in charge of the investigation.  The FBI has suffered irreversible credibility collapse, and many believe there is no worse agency to investigate the events than a highly politicized and weaponized Federal Bureau of Investigation, with a long and non-debatable history of corruption.  Obviously, accepting the lack of public trust in both the FBI and Secret Service, there is mounting speculation as to whether the assassination effort was the result of a series of grossly incompetent mistakes, or was perhaps a willfully blind — and intentional — failure of security.  Adding fuel to the fire of intentional security failures, the AP is now reporting that a police officer saw the gunman before the shots were fired, and the police officer retreated allowing time for the shooter to fire 5 shots toward his target — wounding President Trump and two other attendees, killing another.

The B-team works on weekends:
Shocking Report:  Secret Service Resources Diverted From PA Trump Rally to Jill Biden, More Troubling Info.  One of the big questions that many have about the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump is how the shooter was able to get onto the roof, close enough to be able to shoot Trump and hit three other people, killing one and wounding two others.  Plus, why, once he was spotted, wasn't he dealt with sooner, or why Trump wasn't rushed off the stage?  It would appear that someone dropped the ball in a severe failure.  Now Real Clear Politics' Susan Crabtree has some new information from sources within the Secret Service.  [Tweet]  Crabtree said that Secret Service resources were diverted away from Trump's rally to Jill Biden's Pittsburgh event at the same time.  She said this was done because of "agency protocol applying to Trump as a former president," according to two of her sources within the Secret Service community. [...] So what they're saying is that because they were treating Trump just as a former president, not necessarily the current candidate with a lot of threats against him, Jill Biden was given priority over him.  That wasn't all.  Additionally, Crabtree explained from another source in the Secret Service community there were problems because the team had a lot of replacements.

About Those Female Secret Service Agents Protecting Trump.  Men are larger than women in general, they're stronger than women in general, and they're quicker than women in general.  When a threat approaches, you want the largest mass possible to shield the president.  If a threat tries to come at the president directly, you want the strongest and fastest fighter you can get to take the threat down.  If, for any reason, the threat needs to be pinned or the president needs to be lifted bodily to safety, you want people with solid muscle mass to be able to handle the weight.  Men's lung capacity is also larger, as well is their ability to pump blood through the body faster, making them tire less easily, at least in terms of short-term action.  Women are generally smaller than men, have less muscle mass, aren't as fast, and can be physically overpowered far more easily as a general rule.  When we're dealing with the leader of the free world, or even the once and likely future leader, the question about who should be at his immediate side isn't a question.  It should be men strictly due to the biological advantages given to them by nature when it comes to physicality.

I served in the FBI for 25 years... here's who I suspect is to blame for the Trump assassination attempt security disaster.  [Scroll down]  When it comes to planning for events such as this, I would expect police and Secret Service teams to not only meet and introduce themselves but map out their specific roles in detail.  They ought to have been able to recognise each other by sight.  They should also have double-checked at every stage throughout the rally, ensuring they knew who everybody was and what they were doing.  That's just basic.  In the coming days and weeks, the agency will reconstruct every detail of the event in Butler, Pennsylvania, using witness statements, CCTV and media video, as well as amateur footage shot on phones by members of the public.  They will also review audio recordings, including the radio communications between the various arms of law enforcement.  These should be released to the FBI immediately and I would expect them to be made public in due course.

The Editor says...
The Secret Service snipers have good vision and good telescopic sights on their rifles.  It should have been immediately obvious that this scruffy-looking long-haired guy in a T-shirt obviously was not a cop.  The head of the Secret Service should immediately resign in disgrace, and everybody in the Secret Service who was in Butler, Pennsylvania, last Saturday should be re-trained.  Except for the little girls, who should be fired, because they're just little girls.

FBI Employee Posted Meme Regretting That Trump Assassination Attempt Failed.  An FBI employee posted her disappointment on Facebook that former President Donald Trump was not assassinated on Saturday.  "The memes are gold," wrote Jenna Howell, an employee in the bureau's Identity Research Department.  The bureau apparently hasn't fired her.  [Advertisement] [Tweet] [...] Former agent Kyle Seraphin exposed Howell on X on Sunday.  "Jenna Howell, an @FBI employee ... posted her disappointment @realDonaldTrump survived an assassination attempt," Seraphin wrote.  "Jenna has a Top Secret clearance."  "This is a typical #FBI support employee," he continued.  "And she hates gun owners."  In a long thread about the tattooed Howell, Seraphin explained that she's an extreme leftist and "rabid 'LGBTQIA+ ally'" who hates conservatives.

FBI Reportedly Can't Access Shooter's Phone, Yet Claims 'He Acted Alone'.  Biden's FBI has announced that they believe the would-be assassin at former President Trump's Pennsylvania rally on Saturday acted alone.  The statement comes despite the bureau's inability to access data from the suspect's cell phone, which has been sent to Quantico for further examination.  Kevin Rojek, FBI Special Agent in Charge Pittsburgh, said that the information currently available to the bureau suggests that there is no further public safety concern.  However, he also noted that the investigation is still in its early stages, according to Fox News.  "We have not identified an ideology associated with the subject, but I want to remind everyone that we're still very early in this investigation," Rojek said during a press conference on Sunday.

The Editor says...
[#1] "Biden's FBI."  Indeed it is.  [#2]  The FBI announces that they believe the shooter acted alone.  What else could they say?  (They said the same thing about Lee Harvey Oswald.)  If the shooter was a patsy set up by the FBI in a sting operation (like the Gretchen Whitmer kidnapping plot), what would they say that's any different?  [#3] There is an investigation underway.  That's a blanket excuse to refuse to answer any future questions.  [#4] In several earlier cases, the FBI knew all about dangerous suspects and let them go about their business.  (How's that Las Vegas shooting investigation coming along?)  [#5] In my opinion, the FBI squandered its credibility on January 6, 2021.

Quantico Reportedly Can't Access Shooter's Phone, Yet Claims 'He Acted Alone'.  Biden's FBI has announced that they believe the would-be assassin at former President Trump's Pennsylvania rally on Saturday acted alone.  The statement comes despite the bureau's inability to access data from the suspect's cell phone, which has been sent to Quantico for further examination. [...] The suspect's cell phone, which could hold vital clues to understanding the motivations behind the attack, has been transported to the FBI's forensic lab in Quantico.  However, the bureau has failed to access any data so far.  Laura Ingraham, on her prime-time show, said, "The FBI is telling Fox they believe the shooter acted alone.  We're also learning that they can't get into his cell phone.  They have it at Quantico, but haven't been able to get any data out of it."

Update:
FBI Announces They've Successfully Opened Would-Be Trump Assassin's Phone.  As the investigation into Saturday's assassination attempt against former President and newly-minted GOP nominee Donald Trump at a Pennsylvania rally intensifies, the Federal Bureau of Investigation announced Monday that they have successfully gained access to the suspected shooter's phone.  They have not revealed what information they've found on the device, but it is likely to contain a trove of information about the deceased suspect, 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks.

FBI Still Grappling with Thomas Matthew Crooks' Motive Despite 70% Completion of Phone Analysis.  In an ongoing investigation, the FBI continues to delve into the motives behind Thomas Matthew Crooks' attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump.  Despite having analyzed 70% of the suspect's cell phone data, the bureau has yet to uncover any significant leads.  As previously reported by The Gateway Pundit, the FBI obtained Crooks' cell phone, hoping it would provide crucial insights into his motivations for the attack.  The suspect's cell phone, which could hold vital clues to understanding the motivations behind the attack, has been transported to the FBI's forensic lab in Quantico.  However, the bureau has failed to access any data so far.

Any Assassination Investigation That Includes Merrick Garland Or Chris Wray Is A Coverup.  The FBI has been deeply intertwined with DOJ and other spy agencies' decade — or more — of politicized corruption.  As has been well established by years of investigative work by The Federalist, other outlets, and congressional investigations, the FBI worked hand-in-hand with other U.S. spy agencies to frame Trump as a Russian traitor.  This election-interference operation prompted a special counsel investigation that hamstrung Trump's governance and deceived millions of voters with a constant campaign of leaks and lies.  As part of this operation, the FBI paid for Russian disinformation to take down the elected U.S. president.  Another special counsel investigation later found agency bias was to blame for multiple FBI violations of law and policy to "prevent Trump from becoming president."  The bias that led to this federal effort to end democratic control of U.S. military and intelligence agencies has not only continued since, it's expanded.

Insane New Video Shows Trump Shooter Moving on Roof, People Pointing Him Out Before Shooting.  We've been reporting on the witnesses and videos of the shooter on the roof at the Trump rally.  A witness told the BBC that he saw him for multiple minutes — he estimated five minutes — on the roof as people were pointing him out and telling the police.  [Tweet]  But now there's new video that corroborates what the witness said.  It is also incredibly frustrating as people on the ground spot the guy, allegedly Thomas Crooks, crawling around on the roof with the rifle, and the people shout about it and point him out for almost a minute, but obviously, he is not stopped before the shooting.  [Tweet]  If the people pointing him out saw the rifle, that has to be incredibly brave that they did that, since he could have turned the rifle on them.  This adds more context and confirms, in part, what the BBC witness said.  People were pointing this guy out for some time before he did any shooting.  It wasn't just seconds.  So there was a lot of time, potentially, to stop him or take him out, or at least get Trump off the stage.  Why wasn't he taken out, and how was this allowed to happen?  You can see at least one officer walking by the building as people shout.

Secret Service blames local police, says they were tasked with securing properties surrounding Trump's Pa. rally.  The Secret Service blamed local police for failing to secure the rooftop from which gunman Thomas Matthew Crooks attempted to assassinate former President Donald Trump, insisting it was outside the perimeter the federal agency was tasked with protecting.  Instead, securing and patrolling the factory grounds of AGR International Inc. — located about 130 yards from the stage where Trump was speaking Saturday — was the responsibility of local Pennsylvania police, Secret Service representative Anthony Gugliemi said, according to the New York Times.  The Secret Service was only tasked with covering the grounds where Trump's rally took place, with local police being recruited to assist with those efforts and secure the area outside the rally.

The Editor says...
In other words, the Secret Service wants you to believe that everything outside its territory is a big blind spot.

Warning signs about Secret Service emerged months before Trump assassination attempt.  Driving Vice President-elect Kamala Harris by an undetected bomb.  Refusing extra resources for a presidential candidate.  Admitting an agent on a White House detail assaulted her supervisor.  Long before the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump on Saturday night such focused a harsh light on the Secret Service, the presidential security agency was already facing difficult questions about its capability, training, recruitment and emphasis on diversity.  Secret Service agents reportedly were even circulating a petition raising questions about their management a few weeks ago.  Those questions are now certain to receive intense new attention after video footage showed a gunman on was able to scale a building less than 200 yards from Trump, get to a shooting perch with a rifle and fire several rounds before being neutralized by a Secret Service sniper team at the event Saturday night in Butler, Pennsylvania.

The Editor says...
President Trump was shot on a sunny afternoon, as all the video footage shows.  The event did not take place on "Saturday night."

Warning signs about Secret Service emerged months before Trump assassination attempt.  Driving Vice President-elect Kamala Harris by an undetected bomb.  Refusing extra resources for a presidential candidate.  Admitting an agent on a White House detail assaulted her supervisor.  Long before the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump on Saturday night [sic] such focused a harsh light on the Secret Service, the presidential security agency was already facing difficult questions about its capability, training, recruitment and emphasis on diversity.  Secret Service agents reportedly were even circulating a petition raising questions about their management a few weeks ago.  Those questions are now certain to receive intense new attention after video footage showed a gunman on was able to scale a building less than 200 yards from Trump, get to a shooting perch with a rifle and fire several rounds before being neutralized by a Secret Service sniper team at the event Saturday night [sic] in Butler, Pennsylvania.

The Editor says...
The event took place on a sunny afternoon, as anyone can tell from the ubiquitous footage.  It did not take place "Saturday night."  Has the writer not seen this footage?  Does the sun shine at night?

Trump Shooter ID'd.  Secret Service Chief Under Fire for DEI, Women Agents Panicked at Shooting.  Federal authorities have identified the gunman who attempted to assassinate former President Donald Trump at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.  Seconds after he shot Trump, Secret Service snipers killed Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20.  Yet with Crooks dead from a bullet to the head, the more pressing question is how he took a position atop a building some 150 yards from and with a clear view of the stage on which Trump was speaking.  Calls have begun for Secret Service chief Kimberly Cheatle to be fired.  And GOP Representative James Comer of Kentucky, chairman of the House Oversight Committee, requested that Cheatle testify on July 22 about the bungled protection of Trump.  One of Cheatle's top priorities has been, as one would expect, diversity, equity, and inclusion.  And that might explain why Trump's team included three women who clearly panicked.  [Tweet with video clip] [...] Whatever the case with Trump's protection detail, video clearly shows that three women agents in Trump's protection unit panicked.  They didn't know what to do.  One woman couldn't holster her gun, another danced about, seemingly clueless, while a third fiddled with her sunglasses and adjusted her coat.  [Tweet with video clip]

And now they are known as...
The Three Stoogettes.  Not all jobs are appropriate for either gender.  DEI could get people killed:  [Tweet with video clip]  If the percentage of female agents seems remarkably high, it could be due to the usual Biden Regime emphasis on discrimination against sexually normal white men.

The FBI Agent Who Wants Donald Trump Dead.  Joe Biden spoke today about unity, which is a joke in of itself.  He said we should "let the FBI do their jobs" since the FBI is there "for you."  People posted numerous examples online as to why the FBI isn't there for the people.  It's politicized.  The best example is probably this one about FBI agent Jenna Howell.  She wanted to see Donald Trump dead and doesn't like gun owners.  This is what we are supposed to have faith in.  [Tweet]  The runners-up might be these three gals on the presidential detail who looked like Mo, Larry, and Curly or the Three Amigos, clueless about what to do.  Anything is acceptable to get the girl Secret Service in place.  [Tweet with video clip]

They look just like the Keystone Kops:  The DEI Secret Service in inaction.  [Scroll down]  So ask yourself this:  How well can a five-foot-six agent protect a six-foot-three president?  Fast Forward to last Saturday.  When President Trump was shot, here's what I noted:
  •   The president reacted before his agents did.  He could be seen feeling and hearing the bullet.  When he did, he put his hand to his ear and saw blood, then he dropped down, kneeling behind a bullet-proof half-wall covered with bunting, just as he'd been trained.  Only after this did the members of his presidential detail spring into action, finally putting their bodies between him and any potential shooters.  Just as they're trained, though not as efficiently.
  •   Once they decided to take President Trump to the "Beast," the heavily armored SUV used by presidents and presidential candidates.  That's when their Keystone Kop-ishness became really apparent. [...] Two of those agents were women who seemed to be about five-foot-six.  President Trump, whom they swore to protect, stands around six-foot-three.  [This] would have been funny if it wasn't so potentially dangerous.  When they got the president safely into the Beast, one of the (female) agents had trouble holstering her firearm, a move that should be instinctive.

Photo Shows What Secret Service Agent Did During Rally Attack, And It Wasn't Protecting Trump — 'Disgraceful'.  The Secret Service is facing intense backlash following Saturday's attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump at a Pennsylvania rally.  Videos of the event show several female secret service agents, small in stature compared to their male counterparts, surrounding the president just after the shooting, which resulted in Trump taking a bullet to the ear, two attendees suffering critical injuries and one dying, along with the shooter, per the Associated Press.  One shocking photograph taken at the time of the shooting shows one of the female agents cowering behind Trump as other agents circle around to protect him.

Trump Shooting Clarifies the America We Have Now.  The shooter was positioned barely 150 yards away with a clear line of sight to the former President onstage.  As one Israeli Special Operations veteran later told Fox News, at that distance, the shot was "a putt" anyone could make, and had Trump not turned his head to just the slight degree he did at the sound of the gunshot, "it would have been lights out."  God apparently did what the DEI-sapped Secret Service team couldn't, which is protect this flawed sinner from death at the hands of an assassin (who was subsequently "neutralized" but not before killing a father in the stands who heroically shielded his daughter from harm, and critically wounding two other Trump supporters.  The Secret Service itself now is coming under fire for suspicious negligence — but that's a topic for another day).

Secret Service chief Kimberly Cheatle facing mounting calls to resign after 'total security breakdown' at Trump rally.  Calls are mounting for the resignation of Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle after the assassination attempt on Donald Trump.  Critics claim Cheatle dropped the ball on security measures at Saturday's Trump rally — saying she has been too focused on woke "Diversity, Equity and Inclusion" policies, such as making sure the department is 30 percent women by 2030, to take care of the agency's more crucial business.  They note she even allowed a YouTube influencer to train with agents last year.  Cheatle, 53, served 28 years in the Secret Service and was part of its protective detail guarding then-Vice President Dick Cheney before she left to become head of global security at PepsiCo.  She returned to the agency when President Biden appointed her to its top post in 2022.

Only "Malice or Massive Incompetence" Behind U.S. Secret Service Allowing a Near Assassination.  Donald J Trump is alive today solely due to a bad wind estimate by an evil would be assasin.  As the graphics show the full value wind of just 5mph was enough to displace the unconfirmed but likely light 55 grain bullet two inches from DJT's intended forehead to his ear.  DJT was not saved by USSS brilliance.  The fact that USSS allowed a rifle armed shooter within 150 yds to a preplanned event is either malice or massive incompetence.  Clearly there was adequate uncontrolled dead space for a shooter to move into position and take multiple aimed shots.  Watching the newsreel one can hear how proximate the shooter is by the very short time lapse between the crack of arriving bullet (supersonic) to the boom of muzzle blast (sonic).  The law enforcement sniper (unclear if USSS) in newsreels was clearly overwhelmed as his face came off his rifle instead of doing his job to kill the shooter.  Clearly they were watching the shooter but apparently have a no "first shot" policy.

Secret Service Reportedly Ignored Warning About Man With Rifle on Roof.  An eyewitness at the Trump rally in Pennsylvania claims he saw a man with a rifle on a rooftop.  He said he warned authorities but was ignored.  "We couldn't see [Trump], but we could hear him.  So we walked up probably five to seven minutes from Trump speaking — I'm estimating here, I've no idea.  But we noticed the guy crawling, bear-crawling up the roof of the building beside us, fifty feet away from us.  So we're standing there, you know, we're pointing, we're pointing at that guy crawling up the roof."  "He had a gun, right?" a BBC reporter asked him.  "He had a rifle," the witness confirmed.  "We could see him clearly with a rifle.  Absolutely.  We're pointing at him.  The police are down there running around on the ground.  We're like, 'Hey, man, this guy on the roof with a rifle.'  And the police were like, 'Huh?" you know, like, like, they didn't know what was going on.  You know, we're like, 'Hey, right here on the roof!  We can see from right here.  We see him!  He's crawling.'"  [Video clip]

This event will reset the race for president in unpredictable ways.  [Scroll down]  Until yesterday, we were talking about Biden and speculating about Trump's VP.  Now we are talking about Trump, Trump, Trump, and probably soon a lot about how the Secret Service let this happen.  The individual agents around Trump may have risked their lives to protect the former president, but whoever arranged the security failed spectacularly.  Expect Mayorkas to have some serious questions to answer.  Expect lower-level heads to roll.

Video Shows U.S Secret Service Spotting and Watching Shooter Prior to Shots — Doing Nothing, Then Flinching with Inbound Bullets.  I'm not going to narrate what you can witness with your own eyes and ears.  The camera lens is pointed toward two U.S Secret Service protective detail snipers on the roof behind President Trump.  One is the spotter.  Turn on sound.  You can clearly see both USSS spot the shooter, do nothing, wait for the incoming fire, then respond.  Again, video might not last.  [Video clip]

FBI surprised how many shots Trump's would-be assassin Thomas Matthew Crooks fired off before Secret Service killed him at rally.  Law enforcement officials admitted it was "surprising" how the gunman was able to get so many shots off in the attempted assassination on former President Donald Trump before he was taken out by Secret Service snipers.  During a press conference early Sunday, officials from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Pennsylvania State Police deferred several questions about security to the Secret Service — who were notably absent.  When asked if he was surprised at the number of shots the gunman was able to take at a former president, Kevin Rojek, special agent in charge of the FBI's Pittsburgh field office, said: "It is surprising but, to get all the details of that will come out later in the investigation."

Report: FBI Employee In Gun Background Check Unit Expressed Disappointment That Trump Lived.  Government employees including a Democrat congressional staffer and a purported FBI employee took to social media to express dismay that Saturday's assassination attempt against former President Trump was unsuccessful.  After a gunman opened fire at a Pennsylvania political rally on Saturday, social media posts expressed sentiments like "don't miss next time" and "so close."  Jenna Howell, who is a Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) employee, according to a former FBI analyst who spoke with The Federalist, took to Facebook to express apparent regret that the gunman failed to assassinate Trump.  "The memes... the memes are gold," Howell wrote in a Facebook comment.  She shared an image depicting the grim reaper attempting to pick Trump out of a claw machine captioned "AWWW SO CLOSE."

The FBI Cover-Up of the Trump Assassination Begins?  On X, the FBI states it is assuming the "role of lead federal law enforcement agency in the investigation of the incident involving former President Donald Trump".  In an updated FBI statement on the ongoing incident that took place yesterday in Butler, Pennsylvania.  "Incident" ... not an attempted assassination of President Donald J. Trump and the murder of a Trump supporter and the wounding of two other MAGA rally attendees who are in "serious condition!"

Flashback to 2017:

The Left Whips Up a Climate of Violence — the Prime Target Is Donald Trump.  Is there a media-driven "climate of violence"? You bet there is, and it's being whipped up by the left and the Main Stream Media, here and around the world.  And it has a clear purpose:  The ultimate goal is the destruction of the Trump presidency — and, for at least some, seemingly, the goal is the assassination of President Trump himself.  But don't take Virgil's word for it:  Have a look at the cover of Village magazine.  That cover shows a rifle's crosshairs superimposed on a photograph of Trump's head.  And the headline reads, "Why not."  The once-obscure magazine, published in Ireland, is now basking in worldwide attention, and American social media are happy to magnify Village's glorification of a criminal act.